When one man can command the intensity of the theatrical experience just by flexing his sinewey muscles, we must find ourselves at the Parnassian peak of physical theater. Nicola Pianzola, of the experimental Instabili Vaganti company of Bologna, is just that man, & his hour of incantantion-like speech & gymanastic movements is nothing but a piece of pefect drama.
The story he tells is that of the poisonous effects of the ever-pollutant-belching Ilva steel works in Taranto, southernmost Italy, whose dioxin emittants have simply murdered many locals. Layers of black & red powder covers every pavement in the town, glittering in the gutters, & it is in such a sandy bedsoil that ‘Made in Ilva’ has its roots.
Cue a desperate & work-addicted Pianzola watching his friends die around him, & delivering the translated script with a stylish panache which belies his non-English nationality. A mini-modern classic that drives a needle into the nerves.