After the first encounter of the Bulgarian audience with the captivating theatre of Pippo Delbono in 2015, the World Theatre in Sofia once again presents one of the most unusual Italian theatre directors, winner of the Europe Prize for New Theatrical Realities. A collaborator of the eminent German choreographer Pina Bausch in the 1970s, his shows combine theatre, music, movement and expressive imagery, united by a deeply emotional story taken from the news stream, literature or from the personal experiences of Pippo Delbono and his actors.
Love is an invitation to the audience for a poetic, theatrical and musical journey through external and internal landscapes where the heartstrings vibrate at the slightest touch. The starting point is Portugal, a country steeped in images of intense melancholy, with language and music saturated with subtle softness. The evocative sound of Portuguese fado explodes in the energetic outbursts of the singers, and Delbono’s hypnotic voice speaks verses by one of the greatest poets of the twentieth century (Carlos Drummond De Andrade, Jacques Prévert, Rainer Maria Rilke and others). One moment, the rhythm is the beat of a parade, the next one of a tableau vivant and then rhythm of a slow procession.
Pippo Delbono is an Italian author, director and actor. Initially trained in the traditions of European theatre, he then went to Denmark where he learned the techniques of Eastern dance and began to work on the expressive abilities of the body and voice. In the early 1980s, he founded his company “Pippo Delbono”, with which he created his original performances together with a troupe of actors with whom he worked for many years. The meeting with artists and person coming from marginalization and diversity marks a relevant turning point in his research journey. In a specialist hospital he met the deaf-mute Bobo, who had spent 45 years there and after that he became part of his company: “… to me he was a father, a brother and a son”. After his death in 2019, Delbono dedicated the show “La gioia (Joy)” to him.
Pippo Delbono’s productions have been presented in over fifty countries and at all the major theatre festivals in Europe. He has received numerous national and international theatre awards.
In Italian with English and Bulgarian surtitles.
Associated co-producers: São Luiz Teatro Municipal – Lisbon, Pirilampo Artes Lda, Câmara Municipal de Setubál, Rota Clandestina, República Portuguesa – Cultura / Direção-Geral das Artes (Portugal) and Fondazione Teatro Metastasio di Prato (Italy).
In coproduction with: Teatro Coliseo, Istituto Italiano di Cultura Buenos Aires and ItaliaXXI – Buenos Aires (Argentina), Comédie de Genève (Switzerland), Théâtre de Liège (Belgium), Les 2 Scènes – Scène Nationale de Besançon (France), KVS Bruxelles (Belgium), Sibiu International Theatre Festival/Radu Stanca National Theater (Romania) and with the support of Ministero della Cultura (Italy)
Special thanks for the costumes for the rehearsals: São Luiz Teatro Municipal Lisbon, Théâtre de Liège and Compagnia Teatro O Bando
