Mittelfest, at the heart of geographies, explores fear
Right from its historic name, Mittelfest reveals itself to be a festival that aims to position itself at the crossroads of different regions, with Cividale del Friuli – where the bulk of the programme takes place – as its fixed point, whilst looking around and tracing the current borders between Italia and Europe, with the many changes these boundaries have undergone throughout history. Thus, starting from the Italian border, the festival has, ever since its first edition in 1991, turned its gaze towards the heart of the Old Continent and its jagged, ever-politically turbulent eastern reaches. But there is another boundary that this edition of the Festival – the last curated by Giacomo Pedini after six years at the helm – seeks to explore: a more elusive and mysterious boundary, that of fear. It is precisely on this theme that the Artistic Director has structured the rich and varied programme of events – encompassing theatre, music, dance, circus and cinema – which began on 14 July and draws to a close on Sunday. And, whilst the current state of the world certainly gives rise to unease, constant alarm and deep concern – with the spectre of war looming from one end of the planet to the other and waves of nationalism and totalitarianism sweeping across the globe – we might also choose to shift our perspective; and ‘if, whilst observing things,’ as Pedini himself puts it, ‘we were to begin seeing them through new lenses and with fresh eyes, perhaps some pleasant surprise might await us. If the fear lurking in our thoughts were overcome by our actions, some miracle might well reveal itself. Instead of fleeing from them, why not follow each fear as far as it takes us? Why not embrace its adventures?’ The cross-border festival followed this thread, bringing together diverse symbols and themes, from the reworking of *The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde* – based on Stevenson’s famous novel and adapted for the stage by playwright Federico Bellini and director Fabio Condemi, starring Christian La Rosa – whilst in Josephine van Reenhen’s choreography *Hold your horses*, the flow of a party seemed to be punctuated by agonising shivers, with frantic dashes and clasped hands seeking reassurance, with six performers huddling together in group sequences, before also depicting individual moments in which the absence of the other became evident. Similarly, the daring acrobatic manoeuvres of the group led by Sophie Zoletnik and Lernaat Paar, from Budapest, created the ‘breath-taking’ effect evoked by the title, caught between the difficulty of maintaining stable positions and the desire to share a common breath with the audience. Meanwhile, in a unique blend of Butō theatre and clowning, Arman Kupelyan from the Czech Republic (winner of this year’s Mittelyoung youth section) performed *Chuck my life*, and, still within the circus realm, *Symbiosis* by the German Kolia Hunek and the Dutch Luuk Branties played out its daring dynamics in a sort of exploration of humanity’s balance and imbalance amidst the elements of nature; and furthermore, the trio of Laurent Barboux, Lionel Becimol and Alexandre Demay, who explored the art of the clown and its depths of humanity. Thus, on that dual boundary we mentioned – between the lines on maps and those of inner uncertainties – Bébi also found its place. *Il primo amore* (First Love), making its world premiere here, was a stage adaptation of the novel by the Hungarian author Sándor Márai, directed by Andrea Bosca, depicting a complex love triangle involving a teacher, one of his male pupils and one of his female pupils. Meanwhile, Nina Evelyn Pfuller, from Switzerland, addressed the fear of the body – particularly in relation to the conventions of femininity – with her play *Adam’s Apple*, seeking in that fruit the origin of the insecurity felt by women confined to roles and images dictated by the male gaze. Similarly, *Una madre coraggio* (A Mother of Courage), written by Michele Santeramo and performed by Laura Marinoni under the direction of Gianluca Barbadori, offered an interesting reflection by evoking the famous Brechtian figure. But as Pedini stated, we must transform fear, overcome it, and turn it into something that reveals something unexpected to us. An illustration of this idea was found in the play *Chi perdona*, where the collaboration between the South African Greg Homann and Jeton and Blerta Nezirai from Kosovo allowed the play to revisit the theme of the possibility of erasing resentment and the need for revenge for the most atrocious crimes and massacres, such as those that occurred in the artists’ homelands, in order to rediscover a path towards peace and a new way of living together. The body itself can also be regarded as a boundary behind which fragility and uncertainty lurk, as demonstrated by *Dialogues in the Dream* – a choreographic reflection on the mask and the individual created by Joseph Nadj and Ivan Fatjo to music by Cage – which can be viewed alongside Caterina Mochi Sismondi’s production *Coppelia*, a ‘ballet mécanique’, exploring the identity of physicality and the mechanical figures that seek to replicate its functions and movements. Meanwhile, Marco D’Agostin, with his *Best regards*, used his dynamics and trajectories to narrate the attempt to write a letter addressed to someone who will never reply, whilst Nicola Galli’s *Pop* staged choreographic pieces for children and families. Still on the subject of theatre, the Croatian playwright Ivor Martinic, alongside director Aleksandar Švabić and the actors of the ZKM Theatre in Zagreb, brought to our attention a family forced to make harrowing decisions, whilst Paolo Valerio and historian Davide Rossi’s *The Vergarola Massacre* probed a deep, albeit forgotten, wound in our history: the explosion on 18 August 1946 on a beach near Pula, which claimed several lives but whose cause was never clarified. The closing day saw the premiere of *John and Joe* by Agota Kristof, staged by two actresses of the calibre of Manuela Mandracchia and Alvia Reale, ready to portray the two vagabonds created by the Hungarian writer as a clear symbol of the dissonances of contemporary capitalism.
The festival’s incredibly rich musical programme also draws to a close on Sunday, where the boundaries between genres are truly broken down, creating unprecedented fusions and combinations – such as the pairing of a group of cellists with a dance company in *Otto archi*, eight dancers from the Arearea/Michael Gordon company, or the collaboration between explorer Alex Bellini – who reflected on the idea of exploring and discovering new dimensions – and Luca Lagash’s live electronics. Of great interest, too, was the rediscovery of the composition *Façade*, in which Edith Sitwell’s experimental verses blended with the music of William Walton, thanks to the Ensemble of the Tomadini Conservatoire in Udine. Meanwhile, music and storytelling intertwined in *Una Traviata da cortile*, guided by Alessandro Baricco and with musical direction by Enrico Melozzi, and in Prokofiev’s famous *Peter and the Wolf*, performed by the Italia Serbia Orchestra conducted by Romolo Gessi. And the clownish tuba of the Expectativa Zero duo continued in a vein of delicate irony. There were surprising combinations of the oud and the violin with Anaïs Drago and Peppe Frana, and, in one of the most eagerly awaited events, *Era di maggio*, in which Alessio Boni presented Flavio Santi’s story dedicated to the dreams and hopes experienced by a young man in May 1976, accompanied by Damiano Drei’s original music performed by La Corelli. Another aspect of fear emerged from an exploration of the demonic as depicted by illustrious musicians such as Liszt, Tartini and Strauss, presented by pianist Gabriele Strata and violinist Christian Sebastianutto; this was mirrored, on the traditional front, by the performance of the Balkan group Balkalar, featuring ‘Ballads of Fear’ from the musicians’ homelands. There was plenty of scope for folk music, with the wild Gypsy-Wallachian ensemble Romano Drom, the Polish-Ukrainian group Dagadana, and Duplina with their Slovenian and German repertoire. And just as many shivers of unease ran through the audience during the concert dedicated to hunting themes, featuring the Gimenez, Bevilacqua and Lellario trio and the narrating voice of Roberto Mercadini. A more traditional approach was taken by an exceptional ensemble, Vasko Vassilev & Covent Garden Soloists Quintet, yet featuring combinations ranging from classical violin to electric guitar. The festival opened with a cinematic element, featuring two fascinating events based on the reconstruction of archive material: one focusing on Gabriele D’Annunzio’s attempted expedition to Fiume, the other on the border that divided Italia from Slovenia in the last century, featuring images and stories of suffering and separation experienced by so many people living in different territories.
