Crollo nervoso. 1980

Crollo nervoso (1980)

by Federico Tiezzi
directed by Federico Tiezzi
with Julia Anzilotti, Marion D’Amburgo, Mario Carlà, Sandro Lombardi, Grazia Román, Pierluigi Tazzi, Federico Tiezzi
scenography by Alessandro Mendini, Paola Navone, Daniela Puppa, Franco Raggi
costumes by Rita Corradini
soundtrack by Sandro Lombardi
Compagnia Il Carrozzone, co-production with Assessorato alla Cultura del Comune di Firenze.
Premiere Firenze, ‘XIII Rassegna Internazionale dei Teatri Stabili’, Teatro Affratellamento, 30 aprile 1980.

Crollo nervoso. Presentation

by Mauro Petruzziello
For many commentators, Crollo Nervoso is an emblem of the postmodern. It’s a performance made for the theatre and not for the wide-ranging spaces that used to host the company’s “studies for environment”. It develops along four scenes, the names of which are literally spelt out by the monitors that are scattered across the stage: the first takes place on a beach in Mogadishu in 1985, the second at Los Angeles International Airport three years later, the third in a hotel room in Saigon on 20th July 1969 and the fourth in Africa in the August of 2001. The difference between exterior and interior space is given by a system of venetian blinds that are lifted and pulled down to create the impression of different environments. This “scenic box” was scenographically assembled by Alessandro Mendini’s Studio Alchimia, in itself an icon of postmodern style. In the first episode, Willard and the Skateboarder are upstage, where they perform the robotic stylised dances typical of the then-fashionable New Wave; on the other side of the stage,  Irene and Dallas communicate with radios, on deck-chairs that spring up held by elastic bands. In the second episode Irene and Dallas continue their ongoing circular and meaningless conversation while drinking cocktails and shouting through futuristic-looking walkie-talkies. The third episode is marked by the rhythmic movements of the performers, while the atmosphere evoked is that of a poolside cocktail party, probably on a spaceship or in a Saigon hotel room. The last episode presents a more rarefied atmosphere, and three black women occupy the proscenium wrapped in white veils, speaking of the moon.