Frida Kahlo Production, Richard Jordan Productions LTD and Produzioni Fuorivia
www.cristianCeresoli.it
| Production: | Frida Kahlo Production with Richard Jordan Productions and Produzioni Fuorivia |
| In collaboration with: | Summerhall (Edinburgh), The Basement (Brighton), Soho Theatre (London) |
| With the support of: | Foundation Teatro Valle Commons (Rome) and Gorki Theater (Berlin) |
| Author: | Cristian Ceresoli |
| Performed by: | Silvia Gallerano |
| Technical directors: | Giorgio Gagliano / Giordano Bruno |
| Managing director: | Marta Ceresoli |
Since causing a great stir at its presentation at the 2012 and 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, La Merda has won prestigious international awards, like the coveted Scotsman Fringe First and the Stage Award to the best actress for the Italian performer Silvia Gallerano. The play’s success rests on two main pillars: Cristian Ceresoli’s accurate and angry texts and the captivating performance of its ‘young, ugly and naked lead’, as she is literally described by the company. In a stark monologue, Gallerano reveals onstage her most terrible secrets as she struggles with courage, resistance and obstinacy to achieve her own celebrity breakthrough in a place which she herself defines as ‘the society of thighs and liberty’.
After an intense European tour with sold-outs wherever it was performed, La Merda will visit Madrid in March 2015 endorsed by weighty international reviews, such as: ‘Excellent writing with a Shakespearean aftertaste and a Pasolinean fil rouge’ (Il Fatto Quotidiano); ‘A devastating stream of consciousness’ (The Scotsman); ‘Utterly compelling verbal symphony’ (The Herald); ‘It is powerful, political and poetic’ (Examiner).
British specialised magazine The List has decided to highlight the production as: ‘an unforgettable piece of theatre that reveals our universal inner thoughts, fears, desires and memory with almost frightening accuracy… Brash, brutal, beastly yet beautiful… A near-perfect recreation of humanity, and indeed, society at its most powerful, most desperate, most vulnerable and most cutting’.
The world premiere of the Italian version of La Merda took place in Italy in March 2012. Following its great success, the English version was staged for the first time in August 2012 at the Summerhall as a part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it proved to be one of the great thrills of the year.
