Eduardo De Filippo a Catalunya

The reception of De Filippo in Catalonia has been sparse: La gran il·lusió put on the stage by Herman Bonnin (1988), L’art de la comèdia directed by Jordi Mesalles (1992) or the Filumena Marturano that Alfred Lucchetti translated and played the leading role in 1995. It was only when Belbel staged Dissabte, diumenge i dilluns at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya (2002) that the Catalan public was exposed to the potential and dramatic richness of De Filippo with vibrant and audacious scenery which was used two seasons running. It also left its mark on the latest Belbel piece: Forasters (2004), resounding with the theme of the deterioration of family relationships, as well as the effects of the scenic phantasmagoria and the meta-theatrical aspects that so interested the Neapolitan, interwoven with characters with depth and a singular expressive ambition, that never forgets the general public. The theatre of Eduardo enables updating methods and encourages very dynamic scenographies, and from there comes the validity and adaptability to very different periods and cultures.