Encyclopedia of dying

Wiener Fest Wochen [ENA] “All will end in a slow dissolution towards nothingness” says Romeo Castellucci in interview with Piersandra Di Matteo about his new work “Requiem” which was performed in frames of the Wiener Fest Wochen. “Requiem” was one of the last masterpieces of Mozart. Many would argue that it is unfinished however exactly this unfinish character raises the questions of what happens after death.

This is one of the most universal masterpieces of Mozart while listening to it spectator has a chance to thrive with all moves of his soul, to experience solitude, loneliness, fear, regrets and finally while going through all these feelings to come to hope, deliberation and light. This music is eternal and while listening to it spectator can perceive the moves of soul from doubts to resurrection.

Romeo Castellucci was born in Cesena in Italy in 1960. He is a very multitalented artist who does performances but also designs the stage sets, costumes and lighting schemes of his productions. He is famous around the world for the comprehensive approach to his production and holistic perception of the performance which appears when spectators watch his performances. In 1981 he founded his troupe which is called Societas Raffaello Sanzio, which is currently considered as one of the most important contemporary companies in the world. His productions were shown in various theatres and opera houses in more than 50 countries.

He also received various prestigious awards such as Chevalier des Arts et ders Lettres as well as the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale. This performance is about dying and being reborn and dying again while following the eternal cycle of life. The words appearing at the stage name groups of animals which died out, cities which were destroyed for ever or religious cults which disappeared. This this circle is following the circle of creative destruction of Schumpeter when one element is dying while leaving the space for creation and for development of another one.

The music of Mozart was combined with fantastic performance by the Pygmalion Theater, which combined with chore signing included folkdance. According to Romeo Castellucci, folkdance which symbolizes the life principle through the sequence of movements to which the dancer surrenders. “The whole village is invited to join the dance because they are all living beings and as such dance is the dance of life and death”. But the dance can also be a form of vanishing of the self that triggers the logic of gradual goodbye to life.

The performance is truly innovative while involving strong stage images such as the picture being pained by the earth which was thrown on the bodies of the dancers, then the stage turned from horizontal to vertical position, the picture took a fantastic pattern. Or the picture of darkness and death when three naked old men were wondering through the stage. Or the picture of the eternal dance of life when performers were moving and dancing in the circle. Each of the scenes created very strong pictures in mind and each of the pictures could be considered as a masterpiece by its own. The performance is without doubts one of the strongest and the most impressive plays of this season.