Artistic Project
Holy Scripture
An aesthetic reflection on the literature of the sacred in the Christian religion will give scenic body to an interpretative project made up of theatrical, musical, choreographic, visual and installation creations, in close connection with philosophical, scientific, filmic, social and political research, in order to activate a broad field of representation of the present.
In 2021 Lenz started the project dedicated to the Holy Scriptures with La Creazione (The Creation) – a special project commissioned by MAECI Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
In 2022, research into the sacred texts of Christianity will continue with Numberi (Numbers), ideally referring to the Book of Numbers as the fourth book of the Old Testament. The numbering of beings, the census that lists and names bodies to be re-recognised, the wayfarers in the desert as witnesses to the trial of pain and redemption, will be new material for reflection/action on the human being at the time of his greatest crisis and his prospects for survival, at the end of a progressive deterioration of his living space.
In 2023 and 2024, the culmination of the research will be represented by the Apocalypse and the Gnostic Apocalypses as reflection/action on the unveiling, as the possibility of the truth of things. After that, start again, having added to the eternal return of the always the same, an instant of diversity, of change, of revolution in the present of theatre art.
Resistance
In the context of a permanent theatrical and visual project on the themes of the Resistance and the Holocaust, the Foundation produces an annual creation for the 25 April celebrations. TR2/4 will focus on the role and biography of the Partisan Women of the Parma Resistance, in collaboration with the Historical Institute of the Resistance and Contemporary Age of Parma.
Lenz by Lenz
Staging project of the works of Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, through four re-edition creations: Catharina Von Siena, Lenz by Georg Büchner, Shakespears Geist, I Soldati (The Soldiers). Inspirational figure in 1985 of the birth of the artistic formation Lenz Rifrazioni (today Foundation) is a German playwright who lived at the end of the 18th century, a theologian and man of letters who died mad in Moscow at the age of only forty. Jakob Lenz expresses a strongly anti-rhetorical vision of the crisis of western man, anticipating with pre-Marxist sensitivity the great themes of the 20th century: anti-militarism, social injustice, violence against women, criticism of patriarchy and dominant male power.
Upcoming Past
The four-year project IL PASSATO IMMINENTE ( Upcoming Past) 2018-2021, realised for Parma 2020+21 Capitale Italiana della Cultura and inspired by the works of Pedro Calderón de la Barca, represents a great fresco on contemporary Baroque composed of site-specific performative, choreographic, visual and sound installations conceived and directed by Maria Federica Maestri and Francesco Pititto in collaboration with the musician Claudio Rocchetti.
2018 The Great Theatre of the World
The first part of the project took place in the great halls of the Neoclassical Gallery and in the Teatro Farnese of the Complesso Monumentale della Pilotta_Parma. Over twenty artists, including performers from the Lenz ensemble and harpsichordists from the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito in Parma, gave substance to the scenic rewriting of the visions of The Great Theatre of the World.
2019 LA VIDA ES SUEÑO
The second chapter was set up in the new North Wing of the National Gallery of the Pilotta, where the precious Baroque collection is kept. An imposing installation of hospital beds dialogued with the functional structures designed in the 1970s by architect Guido Canali and sacred representations by Lanfranco, Schedoni, Spada, Ribera, Murillo and van Dyck.
2020 CALDERÓN TRILOGY
The third chapter of the Passato Imminente consists of three solos inspired by Calderóni’s works Life is a Dream and The Constant Prince. Set in the industrial spaces of Lenz Teatro, they are performed by the ensemble’s historical actresses Sandra Soncini, Valentina Barbarini and Barbara Voghera. In July 2021 the show Altro stato was part of the programming of La Biennale Teatro di Venezia.
2021 LIFE IS A DREAM
The fourth part of the project was installed from 19 to 25 June 2021 in the historical-rural landscape of the Cistercian Abbey of Valserena, or Abbazia di San Martino dei Bocci, commonly known as Certosa di Paradigna. Founded in 1298 and deconsecrated in 1810, it has been home since 2007 to the CSAC – Communication Studies and Archives Centre of the University of Parma.
