June 17 – “Corpo a corpo” is a documentary on Pippo Delbono’s theater by Mario Brenta e Karine de Villers. The movie will be screened on June 21 at 7pm at the Italian Cultural Institute in Brussels, in the presence of the two directors. The movie follows the general rehearsal of the show “Orchidee”. “The two directors – reads a note by the ICI – focus on the bodies of the actors, their at times naked, at time dressed bodies entangled in apparently confused movements that find their harmony.” The movie is not a filmed play, as the note further explains: “Corpo a Corpo follows the spirit of Delbono’s style: while the latter chose to destroy the barriers between what is normal and what is crazy, the film chooses to cancel differences between on stage and off stage. The camera moves from the stage to the audience in a fluid movement, making it impossible to distinguish between reality and fantasy.” Delbono brings together theater and dance to investigate the universal themes of sufferance, love and illness in their multiple effects on the body. The Delbono Company has participated in various international theater festivals, including the Avignon Festival, with which they co-produced “Urlo.” Their plays have been staged at the Théâtre du Rond Point in Paris, the Ccb in Lisbon, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, the Berliner Festpiele, and the Otono Festival in Madrid. Their Henry V was staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company of Stratford-upon-Avon. The Company has performed in 50 countries worldwide, the only Italian company to do as much.