Capturing the dual meaning of the Italian word, at once a domestic environment, secluded and solitary, and a special place destined for a physical or chemical process, CAMERA is an intimate glimpse into the alchemical processes, gestures and practices that turn a sensitive vision into a dramaturgy for the stage. Materials, notes, reflections, temporary narratives, compositions that emerge only to be discarded and overturned: two artists and a collective are invited to share, one by one, the pulsating substance of their theatrical projects, engaging them in a dialogue with the festival audience, dramaturgs, other artists and cultural operators. It is not a presentation nor an “open rehearsal” or a “study”, but a spurious moment whose sole purpose is to nurture the creative process and reveal its formulations, bringing together observation and action, allowing them to influence each other before being formalised.
At the centre of the programme of CAMERA, alongside Giulia Crispiani, are Daria Deflorian and El Conde de Torrefiel.
“Every beginning is only a sequel”, writes the poet Wislawa Szymborska. When a project starts, it’s because something we don’t know yet has already begun. I call that place “the dark room”: it has walls, doors and windows, but it’s not yet enlightened by reason. How can we inhabit this room without persistently and prematurely searching for the light switch? In his latest book, Emmanuel Carrère describes this stumbling around as follows: “I’m looking for the front door. That’s what I’m always looking for: the front door.” I have a few little rules and, at every new beginning, I’m filled with countless doubts about how to proceed. Let’s try to mention a few of these little rules. Let’s try believing in them and challenging them at once, because if it’s true that “every beginning is only a sequel”, it’s equally true that we start all over again each time, as if we’d never learnt anything at all.
– Daria Deflorian
Daria Deflorian is an actress, writer and director. As a performer she has worked, among others, with Nanni Moretti, Stéphane Braunschweig, Massimiliano Civica, Lotte van den Berg, Lucia Calamaro, Fabrizio Arcuri, Mario Martone, Martha Clarke, Remondi e Caporossi, Fabrizio Crisafulli and Marcello Sambati. She won the Premio Ubu 2012 for best actress and the Premio Hystrio in 2013. From 2008 to 2021 she shared her projects with Antonio Tagliarini (Deflorian/Tagliarini): their work, presented in Italy and across Europe, received numerous awards, including the Premio Ubu 2014 for best text, the Prize for Best Foreign Show in Canada 2015, the Premio Riccione for dramaturgy 2019 and the Premio Hystrio for dramaturgy 2021. Their texts are published by Titivillus, Cue Press and Sossella Editore. In 2023 Sossella Editore also published Qualcosa di sé. Daria Deflorian e il suo teatro, edited by Rossella Menna. In 2022 she wrote the dramaturgy and direction of En finir, after Changer méthode by Édouard Louis, with students of the La Manufacture school in Lausanne; in 2023 that of Elogio della vita a rovescio, freely inspired by the works of Han Kang; in 2024 she created the adaptation and direction of La vegetariana, scenes from the novel by Han Kang, Nobel Prize in Literature 2024, a production that received 7 nominations at the Premio Ubu 2025, including Best Theatre Show, winning the awards for Best Set Design and Best Lighting Design. In 2025 she wrote the dramaturgy and direction of Credo di aver avuto un’infanzia normale, the final show of the students of the Gian Maria Volonté film school. She is an associate artist at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano for the 2025–2027 period, having previously held the same role at the Triennale di Milano. Since 2021 she has co-directed INDEX together with the company Muta Imago.
CAMERA is realised at ST26 thanks to the support of Associazione MEGERA
Daria Deflorian is present at ST26 with the support of SIAE
ph. Andrea Pizzalis