The Show Must Go On
The uncertainty and fragility of the culture industry
Photo by Vanessa Vettorello
“I feel like an actor who has to endure a role rather than perform it,” explains Gaetano Renda from the Cinema Centrale in Turin. The Covid emergency has highlighted the fragility of the Italian cultural system: cinema and theatre represent an important industry but are sectors that are often neglected by the country’s institutions.
As well as substantial economic losses, the jobs of the many professions such as technicians, administrators and artists are at risk. Serious questions remain concerning the potential long-term effects, which could include a desertification of entertainment, the loss of a nationwide presence or even untamed deregulation.
Cinema and theatre, in fact, do not perform only an artistic function, but also a social one: their venues are often bastions of creativity, coexistence and integration within communities. “We have transformed this phase into a moment of experimentation,” explains Corinne Baroni of the Teatro Coccia, “we are working with a perspective of playing with technological innovations, with the language, with a multidisciplinary form. Perhaps this is the solution: involving the public and guiding them towards greater interaction.”
(2020)
