"There’s a certain mystique surrounding the creative process": garçongarçon tells us about "Bellissima"

You’ve freely adapted Visconti’s film *Bellissima* to favour a less linear narrative, giving way to a more fantastical world; tell us about this choice.

Bellissima is the work that inspired our research and creative process. We were particularly moved by the pure and authentic figure of the mother in Visconti’s work. This woman who is trying to break into the world of cinema and art. A social milieu she fantasises about, that she desires.

The intention was never for Visconti’s film to be the primary source from which our creation would draw, but rather to make a very loose adaptation of it.

In the original screenplay, for example, the view of the artistic world is very binary. We take a much more complex and sensitive view of this industry. We therefore expanded this part of the narrative based on ideas from the set, in dialogue with other inspirational sources; which allowed us to open up a broader critical space on ‘the act of creating’ through the lens of other figures (an actress at the end of her career, a set photographer, a producer, a young diva, an editor, a first assistant, a casting director…). These figures speak of passion, desire, frustration and dreams. It is also a show that speaks of acting, of allowing oneself to be watched as a performer, and of the fear that this can engender. This is where our adaptation comes in. It is what seemed most fitting for the narrative currently unfolding on stage.

And that is what we find beautiful: the encounter between the character of the mother, her struggle, and this critical perspective that we bring to this production.

Your direction skilfully combines the neo-realism of Visconti’s film with the beauty found in a mother’s struggle to break free from her social background. Tell us about this aesthetic that blends documentary and poetry.

Often in our work, there is a very strong grounding in reality.

Neorealism took root in the aftermath of the Second World War; men were absent (wounded by the war or killed in action), and women took on a new role, playing an active part in transforming society. Among Neorealist filmmakers, another figure comes to the fore: the child. The child then appears as a miracle, a hope, a possibility for changing the world.

For Neorealism, the child is a means of offering the viewer a perspective on reality free from any preconceptions, without denying the legacy of the society depicted. At the same time, children bear the consequences of the actions committed by adults, whilst also leading us to take a fresh and magical look at the present and the future.

Neorealism has a very cinéma-vérité, quasi-documentary texture, yet one that suddenly encounters poetry, magic and hope, often in rather symbolic forms such as an apparition, a light, a piece of music or a body.

It is through the interplay of these dramatic elements that our aesthetic is constructed.

*La Vecchia Vacca*, *La voix humaine*, *A Streetcar Named Desire* and now *Bellissima* – you enjoy directing strong women grappling with a life that often doesn’t go easy on them. What do these female characters inspire in you?

They are all linked by the wounds they carry within them as they face the world, and by the battles they fight. These women move mountains to change the status quo.

The predominance of female characters in our work and our love for them may also be linked to the similar questions raised by the queer community to which we belong.

Both find themselves ‘in struggle and transformation’ in the face of a society and a dominant mindset that marginalises, renders them vulnerable, or discriminates against them.

You often work in close collaboration; can you tell us about your working dynamic on this production?

We have indeed been working together for years. We have co-directed the non-profit organisation garçongarçon for around ten years.

The decision to take on production duties stems from discussions about the evolution of garçongarçon’s repertoire. A project of this scale, involving so many people, cannot be managed alone.

On Bellissima, Antoine’s involvement takes the form of collaboration on the direction, through the lens of dramaturgy and writing.

In Salvatore Calcagno’s work, writing and direction are intrinsically linked. “Writing is the backbone of the staging” is a phrase we often use. This writing is multifaceted: stage writing and dialogue continuity, music, choreography, lighting…

• 19–30 September 2023
• BELLISSIMA
• Salvatore Calcagno / garçongarçon