THE PLAYHOUSE
video work
concept and direction Vincenzo Schino | editing supervision Ackagi | cinematography Fabio Tommassini | lighting Valentina Pascarella | peformers Luca Piomponi, C.L. Grugher, Simone Scibilia | production Opera Bianco, PINDOC
THE PLAYHOUSE (11′) originates from the citation of a scene from the homonymous film by Buster Keaton (1921).
Citation and imitation are treated as a form of knowledge of the other and an opportunity to connect with the physicality and kinetics of people who are no longer here. A dancer has studied in detail the physical score of a scene from the film in which Keaton plays a trained monkey acting like a human: a man imitating a man, imitating a monkey imitating a man. A hall of mirrors.
The dancer retraces all movements and gestures in solitude, without the body of the partner with whom Keaton interacts in the film. From this starting point, the movement evolves toward the abstraction of dance.
In the original film, the theater audience is a co-protagonist in the rhythm of the comedy. Keaton’s editing choices, alternating between shots of the performance and the stalls, inspired the idea of doubling the projection screen and creating a true reverse shot behind the installation’s spectators.
