Tim Crouch’s second work to be produced by Accademia degli Artefatti, and the second part of the Ab-Use double bill, An Oak Tree has the picture of an oak tree in the title, a solid, long-lasting tree, the symbol of strength, dignity, virility and perseverance even in antiquity, but also a mystical tree, the symbol of nature that looks on, impotent, at human violence. On stage is a hypnotiser, a professional illusionist, a man accustomed to fiction and credulity. The story he tells slips rapidly from comedy to tragedy, amplified by the reaction created on stage between the main character-showman and his stooge, who is forced to interact blindly. A play for two characters that is never the same, it takes the game of linguistic abuse to extreme consequences. It is different every evening and provocatively mixes reality and fiction, script and unpredictable reactions, “throwing on stage” an actor who does not know the script, and has to interpret his part and react to the text, in a continuous metamorphosis of life into art and vice versa. An abuse, in other words.
by Tim Crouch
(alternating at performances) Matteo Angius, Gabriele Benedetti, Pieraldo Girotto
and at each performance an actor who does not know the script – Valerio Binasco, Valentina Cervi, Valter Malosti
directed by Fabrizio Arcuri
Accademia degli Artefatti
in collaboration with IED – Roma / British Council, Trend – nuove frontiere del Teatro Britannico / Santarcangelo – International Festival of the Arts / Festival Teatri delle Mura di Padova / Armunia – Castiglioncello / Officina culturale – Regione Lazio
