The Piccolo
Teatro in Milan was Italy\’s first permanent theatre and was declared a theatre
of major European importance by Ministerial Decree in 1991. It was founded in
the immediate post-war period by Paolo Grassi, Giorgio Strehler, Mario
Apollonio, Virgilio Tosi and Nina Vinchi.
The
\”Piccolo\” consists at present of three venues: the Sala Grassi, the
19th-century Teatro Fossati, which reopened in 1986 under the name Teatro
Studio Melato, and the Teatro Strehler.
The Teatro
Studio Melato started life as an experimental theatre, a training ground for the young
students from the Piccolo Theatre School, and home to the international master
classes which are held there annually. Its circular design is greatly
appreciated by directors from all over the world for the special relationship
it allows actors to establish with their audience. The theatre was recently
equipped with Clay Paky Alpha Profile 800s for the show \”E io dico no:
ogni notte ha un’alba\” (And I say \’no, every night has a dawn\’).
The lighting
designer and lighting department manager Claudio De Pace explained how he made his choice: \”I had recently used Clay Paky 700s in
some shows staged outside our theatre, especially in conjunction with the Milan
Furniture Fair for a production at the Teatro dell’Arte. I was very satisfied with their reliability
and luminous efficiency. When
it came to equipping the Teatro Piccolo with a new set of lights, I decided to
do several tests on site with other brands, but in the end I opted for Alpha
Profile 800s. First, Clay Paky
is an Italian company known worldwide for the excellence of its products.
Second, I chose them for their
reliability and small size. What
they can do in such a compact case is truly remarkable.\”
De Pace
stressed that loads on the battens and handling limitations have to be taken
into serious consideration in the Teatro Studio: \”thanks to their lightweight, we were able to move the Profiles
around and install them in the theatre with considerable ease. Each light could be carried by a single
person. Our concern was that we
would have to do without the performance of large lights, but we soon realized
there was no risk of this: the
Profile\’s lamp is extremely bright, and the light is equipped with all the
effects and features of a 1200-1500 watt light, if not more.\”
The final
rig includes 14 Alpha Profile 800s.
For the show ‘E io dico no: ogni notte ha un’alba’, they have been arranged on
the catwalks and are used as back-lighting and semi-front-lighting. One is
placed in the middle of the third tier and four others are used as side lights.
This show
stands out for being completely devoid of scenery; everything is done
exclusively with lights. The Alpha Profile 800s are used both as stage effects
lighting and as accent lighting. In two or three moments during the show, De
Pace uses them \”on the faces of
the leading players with the CTO filter. Lastly, I also use them as follow-spots, after saving the actors’
movements in the memory\”.
The show was
written by Nando Dalla Chiesa and Marco Rampoldi, and is the result of
extensive research by a group of students and researchers from the Sociology of
Crime course organized by the University of Milan under Dalla Chiesa\’s
guidance. The project goes beyond the educational dimension and involves these
young researchers in deep and continuous investigation into the phenomenon of
organized crime.
Once the
performances of the show are over, all the equipment will be dismantled, and
the lights will be made available for future shows, including those in other
Piccolo Teatro venues in Milan.
Photo
credits: Davide Barbetta
