Cinema
The interview •
The body of the word and theatre as an awareness of the present. Lella Costa speaks
Il Foglio welcomes the Italian actress and comedian, who, 30 years after the U.S. premiere, is bringing "The Vagina Monologues" back to the stage. The debut takes place this evening at the Teatro della Cometa in Rome, with the grand finale at the Carcano in Milan.
Lella Costa – photo: LaPresse
Thirty years after the first American performance of "The Vagina Monologues" – in 1996 at the Here Arts Centre in New York (the book was published in 1998 by Villard Books) – Lella Costa returns to engage with a text that has spanned three decades of cultural transformations, shifts in social mores and redefinitions of public discourse. V’s work – formerly Eve Ensler – retains its searing intensity, in which the female body is a space for experience, storytelling, desire, oppression and self-awareness. Lella Costa, who first met the author in 2001 during the first VDay she organised at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, is bringing the production back to the stage in the capital, from tonight until 8 November at the Teatro della Cometa – which has been given a new lease of life thanks to Maria Grazia Chiuri – before moving on to Pontedera, Bologna and Milan, at the Teatro Carcano, on 24 November.
A new ensemble production, featuring a group of actresses from different generations and with diverse sensibilities, ranging from Anna Ferzetti to Michela Andreozzi, from Sara Drago to Angela Finocchiaro, Lucia Mascino, Carlotta Natoli, Veronica Pivetti, Fabrizia Sacchi, Paola Turci and many others. An actress, author and exponent of a theatrical tradition in which the intelligence of language meets irony and civic-minded reflection, Lella Costa belongs to that rare category of artists capable of engaging with public discourse without sacrificing complexity. “Returning to this play offers an opportunity to examine the relationship between theatre and society, the tone of the Italian debate, the anxieties of the younger generations and the fate of the spoken word in an age of incessant communication,” she explains to Il Foglio.
Thirty years on, how has the perception of the female body changed?
That is a significant question. For some time, it has been assumed that conditions have improved, that progress has been made in terms of knowledge. However, I am not entirely convinced, because I am uncertain whether what was once a women’s movement—a sharing of experiences, a coming together, a reclaiming of control and knowledge over one’s own body—still occurs today. It remains uncertain whether young women today are given the opportunity to understand their own bodies and to recognize clearly what they need and what it all entails. In this sense, The Monologues surprise and entertain, telling stories that are not taken for granted.
Is this a current text?
In a sense, it is, because it stems from research and a series of interviews that Eve Ensler conducted in the 1990s with women of all ages and social backgrounds in the United States. The Vagina Monologues embody this voice, and it is no coincidence that the author prefers them to be read aloud rather than recited from memory, as they represent authentic voices and lived experiences. The text’s strength lies in its consistently light-hearted tone, despite the powerful themes it addresses. There is a great deal of irony, and the show is also highly entertaining.
When this text was first staged, some words were still unpronounceable.
In fact, perhaps some of them are even more so now. At the time, they were provocative words. Even a word like ‘vagina’ – which is the technical term for the organ it refers to, a word we are not familiar with – came across as provocative and strange. This was the late 1990s, yet rather than provoking scandal, the initiative generated a powerful sense of solidarity—a theme that surfaced across diverse narratives and resonated with women of all ages and backgrounds who could recognise themselves in the same performance and script. The same holds true today.
You have often assigned irony a cognitive function, and it allows you to approach topics that formal language tends to make rigid. What is your relationship with humour when the subject is violence against women?
The monologues also address this in the strictest sense. Just consider that until 2010, the word ‘femicide’ did not exist. Unfortunately, the phenomenon existed, but there was no word to describe it. The monologues address violence and rape, but they primarily explore the relationship women have with their own bodies and their own vaginas—a relationship that is often repressed and treated as a taboo subject. If this were not the case, discussion would be easier. Ensler tackles the themes of violence in other ways, such as in The Body of the World or the work she has done for One Billion Rising.
You met at the Argentina here in Rome for the first Italian V-Day in 2001 and then in America.
Yes, in 2008, to mark the tenth anniversary of the play’s first staging in New Orleans, where Hurricane Katrina had struck. We put on a performance attended by 40,000 people. I was in Boston in 2016, however, because she had staged another of her plays there.
Throughout her career, what relationship has developed between the actress’s writing and her body? Has the stage taught her something that the written page alone could not have revealed to her?
Words and the stage are so closely linked that, to me, they are inseparable. Mine is a theatre of the spoken word. I am often the author or co-author of these words. In the case of I Monologhi, my contribution as an author lies not in the text itself, but in the way it is brought to the stage – in the performance. She has also participated in all performances of the play "Ferite a morte", adapted from the book of the same name by Serena Dandini, and is pleased to be recognised for her credibility. When she addresses certain topics, it is clear that she was cast not only for that particular production, but because specific issues and themes are close to her heart and because she believes in them deeply.
How difficult is it to be credible at this particular moment in history?
There is often confusion between recognisability and credibility, which do not necessarily go hand in hand. There are people who are very recognisable but who are not, in fact, credible. Would you ever buy a car from someone you don’t trust? I wouldn’t, let alone anything else. In my case, I believe I have earned this recognisability, meaning that when I speak on certain topics, I am credible.
Italy is going through a particularly turbulent period. The squares of Rome and Milan, the student protests and the demonstrations that have swept across the country all point to a generation that has lost patience with traditional forms of representation. What do you make of this unrest?
I lived through the years of the great mass protests myself, and it is impossible for me to ignore them. Today’s movements are different because the world has changed, the world of communication has changed, and we have social media. Underlying it all is a genuine unease that stems from an objective view of the world. When people ask me how I am, my automatic reply is ‘as well as can be expected, given the state of the world’. Feeling well as an individual isn’t really worth that much, after all, and I’m not just saying this to sound like a do-gooder. I’m troubled by this revanchism, this return of wars which, rather than receding from us, have drawn nearer and multiplied. It’s hard to talk about the evolution of the species when we’re still fixated on the enemy and on physically annihilating them. That’s not very ‘sapiens’ of us.
In your opinion, how can one distinguish between a protest that sparks reflection and one that ends up being nothing more than a spectacle?
I believe it takes time. One of the pitfalls we all tend to fall into is that there has been this terrifying acceleration in the flow of information and the sharing of news, and there is no longer time for reflection and re-evaluation. I feel like saying: ‘Calm down!’. These young people, who are now assuming responsibilities in the face of a daunting world, have at least the sacrosanct right to take their time, find their voice, and be judged. As Karl Marx observed, people are not judged by what they think or claim to think, but by what they do. So let us give them time to understand. It always strikes me as a bit disingenuous that, when it comes to events that are undoubtedly very negative – such as acts of violence, smashed shop windows and so on – far more emphasis is placed on that than on everything else. There’s a problem with who’s telling the story; it’s a matter of choice.
During the protests, the word ‘freedom’ was often shouted. What does it mean to you today to be free?
It is one of those words we all think we agree on, but in reality it has many different meanings. The real difference lies between freedom TO and freedom FROM. Not all freedoms from the world’s negativity are yet guaranteed to everyone – such as freedom from want, from slavery, from war and from violence… that is where we should start in order to see how freedom TO act and to express oneself plays out… it seems to me that those who protest and end up in prison are not, after all, completely free from a series of heavy constraints. I understand perfectly well that the future is something very uncertain and frightening. Rather than free, I consider myself extraordinarily lucky and privileged, and I aim to make the best possible use of that.
Tonight she will be at the Teatro la Cometa here in Rome and then on tour to Milan, at the Carcano – a theatre she co-directs with Serena Sinigaglia – two venues where women play a prominent role.
I cannot help but be delighted; the meeting with Maria Grazia Chiuri was a real treat, and that Roman theatre, steeped in history and brought back to life, is extraordinary. All in all, let’s make our voices heard.”
What would you like a member of the audience to take away with them as they leave the theatre?
The words and ideas shared – even just a tiny bit of something, whatever it may be. And then the beauty we sow, and the good we make of it all.