About us
The Company
The name Gordi was born in 2010, in the kitchen of a rented house in Giudecca; some of us were in Venice for a workshop with Anatolij Vasiliev. “Gordi”, just like that, for fun, maybe as a tribute to our academy “Grassi” (Pun on the surname and what it means in Italian: fat, thick, rich), maybe because it sounds good; in latin, gurdus is a fertile ground, and then there’s the “billete gordo” that is the spanish for lucky ticket. Teatro dei Gordi, officially, but we go as Gordi, especially since we don’t own a theatre. What we have is an adoptive city, Milan. We collaborated on the organization of the IT Festival of Independent Theatre in Fabbrica del Vapore, the very first spark for the first and last show for children: an adaptation of The BFG by Roald Dahl. On the first night, a kid peed his pants from fear. We had yet to get used to theatre for children. But we never did, really, we just took other routes and in the meantime Spielberg and Dreamworks took all the rights for the colossal. In 2015, Thanks to the FUnder35 call, we centered ourselves on the artistic suggestion of Riccardo Pippa, director of the company from then on: a scenario where a clumsy Death has to get down to business. Ilaria Ariemme created for and with us the masks used in the show, that takes his title from the polish poetess Wislawa Szymborska: Sulla morte senza esagerare (About Death without making a fuss). We put together the first twenty minutes of the work in Crevalcore, among our friends from Sementerie Artistiche. We won some prizes, we got a co-production with Tieffe Teatro Menotti and we debuted there in 2016. But with the artistic buzz come some creative failures, some missed calls and long residencies with no shows. But Sulla morte is still going strong and a “billete gordo” brings Andrée Ruth Shammah, director of Teatro Franco Parenti, to one of the reruns. She likes it, and offers us a co-production for a future show, on condition that we continue our research with the mask.
The name Gordi was born in 2010, in the kitchen of a rented house in Giudecca; some of us were in Venice for a workshop with Anatolij Vasiliev. “Gordi”, just like that, for fun, maybe as a tribute to our academy “Grassi” (Pun on the surname and what it means in Italian: fat, thick, rich. Translator’s note), maybe because it sounds good; in latin, gurdus is a fertile ground, and then there’s the “billete gordo” that is the spanish for lucky ticket. Teatro dei Gordi, officially, but we go as Gordi, especially since we don’t own a theatre. What we have is an adoptive city, Milan. We collaborated on the organization of the IT Festival of Independent Theatre in Fabbrica del Vapore, the very first spark for the first and last show for children: an adaptation of The BFG by Roald Dahl. On the first night, a kid peed his pants from fear. We had yet to get used to theatre for children. But we never did, really, we just took other routes and in the meantime Spielberg and Dreamworks took all the rights for the colossal. In 2015, Thanks to the FUnder35 call, we centered ourselves on the artistic suggestion of Riccardo Pippa, director of the company from then on: a scenario where a clumsy Death has to get down to business. Ilaria Ariemme created for and with us the masks used in the show, that takes his title from the polish poetess Wislawa Szymborska: Sulla morte senza esagerare (About Death without making a fuss). We put together the first twenty minutes of the work in Crevalcore, among our friends from Sementerie Artistiche. We won some prizes, we got a co-production with Tieffe Teatro Menotti and we debuted there in 2016. But with the artistic buzz come some creative failures, some missed calls and long residencies with no shows. But Sulla morte is still going strong and a “billete gordo” brings Andrée Ruth Shammah, director of Teatro Franco Parenti, to one of the reruns. She likes it, and offers us a co-production for a future show, on condition that we continue our research with the mask.
Recent Times
The gestation of Visite begins in November, 2017. We discover, thanks to scenographer Anna Maddalena Cingi, what place would have held our tale by images: a bedroom in which seasons of life pass by. We debut in Franco Parenti Theater in November, 2018, replying for three weeks, then again for three weeks in June, 2019. And in June comes the Hystrio Iceberg award, too, assigned to the best emergent company. “Seeing them together, they resemble the typical light-hearted Italian during a trip. But time passes by, and Gordi grow old. As their theater does.” We are an independent company, a cultural association with eleven members. Independent because we defend our artistic freedom, given that, at the moment in Italy, the policy regarding funds doesn’t align with the time and the ways of our artistic practice. We proceed by co-productions. And to us, co-production means that half of the money that we need for the show, we receive from the theatre, this half we spend on staging and collaborators; the other half, as co-producers, would be ours to bring, but given that we don’t have it, we offer our work. So, economically speaking, being a collaborator of Gordi is better than being a Gordo, because during our executive council, members’ paychecks are soon to be blown out. So, working for free is a privilege reserved to members only. Of course we could go on stage with two actors and a technician and get the paychecks, but we are a collective, we love coral work, for in a group we can tame personalism and we have more fun. In 2020 our debut in Biennale di Venezia with our work Pandora. Biennale is so much more than an opportunity: is a good reason to keep on working together, thanks to the partnership with Franco Parenti Theater.
Members
Gordi are: Cecilia Campani, Daniele Cavone Felicioni, Camilla Galloni, Antonio Gargiulo, Giovanni Longhin, Andrea Panigatti, Riccardo Pippa, Sandro Pivotti, Maria Vittoria Scarlattei, Giulia Tollis, Matteo Vitanza. In collaboration with the company: Claudia Caldarano (actress and dancer), Ilaria Ariemme (masks and costumes), Anna Maddalena Cingi (scenes), Paolo Casati (lights), Luca De Marinis (sound), Alice Colla (technical manager), Monica Giacchetto (distribution and press office), Barbara Giordano (social media manager). If we don’t hide anymore from 2010, it is also thanks to: Irene Timpanaro, Roberta Lidia De Stefano, Marco Monzini, Riccardo Mallus, Giacomo Veronesi, Emilio Romeo, Jacopo Crovella, la Scuola Paolo Grassi di Milano, Lydia Giordano, Giuliano Bottacin, the city of Bovisio Masciago, Campo Teatrale, mpg.cultura di Venezia, Fuoco alla Paglia, Alessandro Brucioni e Mowan Teatro di Livorno, Teatro Armunia e il Castello Pasquini di Castiglioncello, Manù e Pietro of Sementerie Artistiche di Crevalcore, Lab121, Mamimò, Associazione Amici di Duccio, Fondazione Cariplo, Teatro Presente, Compagnia Oyès, Premio Scintille, Tieffe Teatro Menotti Milano, Premio Giovani Realtà del Teatro, Accademia Nico Pepe di Udine, Agis e Regione Lombardia per Next, MiBAC-SIAE for the call “Sillumina”, Claudia Cannella and the jury of Premio Hystrio 2019, Andrée Ruth Shammah, offices and workmanship of Teatro Franco Parenti di Milano.
Recent times
The gestation of Visite begins in November, 2017. We discover, thanks to scenographer Anna Maddalena Cingi, what place would have held our tale by images: a bedroom in which seasons of life pass by. We debut in Franco Parenti Theater in November, 2018, replying for three weeks, then again for three weeks in June, 2019. And in June comes the Hystrio Iceberg award, too, assigned to the best emergent company. “Seeing them together, they resemble the typical light-hearted Italian during a trip. But time passes by, and Gordi grow old. As their theater does.” We are an independent company, a cultural association with eleven members. Independent because we defend our artistic freedom, given that, at the moment in Italy, the policy regarding funds doesn’t align with the time and the ways of our artistic practice. We proceed by co-productions. And to us, co-production means that half of the money that we need for the show, we receive from the theatre, this half we spend on staging and collaborators; the other half, as co-producers, would be ours to bring, but given that we don’t have it, we offer our work. So, economically speaking, being a collaborator of Gordi is better than being a Gordo, because during our executive council, members’ paychecks are soon to be blown out. So, working for free is a privilege reserved to members only. Of course we could go on stage with two actors and a technician and get the paychecks, but we are a collective, we love coral work, for in a group we can tame personalism and we have more fun. In 2020 our debut in Biennale di Venezia with our work Pandora. Biennale is so much more than an opportunity: is a good reason to keep on working together, thanks to the partnership with Franco Parenti Theater.
Members
Gordi are: Cecilia Campani, Daniele Cavone Felicioni, Camilla Galloni, Antonio Gargiulo, Giovanni Longhin, Andrea Panigatti, Riccardo Pippa, Sandro Pivotti, Maria Vittoria Scarlattei, Giulia Tollis, Matteo Vitanza. In collaboration with the company: Claudia Caldarano (actress and dancer), Ilaria Ariemme (masks and costumes), Anna Maddalena Cingi (scenes), Paolo Casati (lights), Luca De Marinis (sound), Alice Colla (technical manager), Monica Giacchetto (distribution and press office), Barbara Giordano (social media manager). If we don’t hide anymore from 2010, it is also thanks to: Irene Timpanaro, Roberta Lidia De Stefano, Marco Monzini, Riccardo Mallus, Giacomo Veronesi, Emilio Romeo, Jacopo Crovella, la Scuola Paolo Grassi di Milano, Lydia Giordano, Giuliano Bottacin, the city of Bovisio Masciago, Campo Teatrale, mpg.cultura di Venezia, Fuoco alla Paglia, Alessandro Brucioni e Mowan Teatro di Livorno, Teatro Armunia e il Castello Pasquini di Castiglioncello, Manù e Pietro of Sementerie Artistiche di Crevalcore, Lab121, Mamimò, Associazione Amici di Duccio, Fondazione Cariplo, Teatro Presente, Compagnia Oyès, Premio Scintille, Tieffe Teatro Menotti Milano, Premio Giovani Realtà del Teatro, Accademia Nico Pepe di Udine, Agis e Regione Lombardia per Next, MiBAC-SIAE for the call “Sillumina”, Claudia Cannella and the jury of Premio Hystrio 2019, Andrée Ruth Shammah, offices and workmanship of Teatro Franco Parenti di Milano.
The ceremony of the Hystrio Iceberg 2019 Award to the best emerging company
Come to see us
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Appointments
What we are working on