Liv Ferracchiati's 'Death in Venice' at Piccolo Teatro Milano

At the Teatro Studio Melato of the Piccolo di Milano, Liv Ferracchiati presents a free theatrical creation inspired by Thomas Mann's 'Death in Venice', running until May 25, 2025. The performance reinterprets the novel's tension between eros and death, focusing on the gaze as the central element of the scene. Ferracchiati strips away homoerotic and intellectual senescence connotations, instead framing the encounter between writer Gustav von Aschenbach and the adolescent Tadzio as a metaphor for the clash between mature intellect and wild beauty. A camera on a tripod symbolizes the eye's attempt to capture beauty, which remains elusive until death. The production incorporates visual references to Daniel Buren, Pipilotti Rist, and Sylvie Fleury, with projected images and videos creating a hypnotic visual score. Alice Raffaelli's performative action is described as centered and effective. The finale features a tear from Francesco Vezzoli, emblematic of aesthetic collapse. The show is not merely watched but traversed, like a landscape changing with light. A song by Mina lingers, and an echo of Schiller's Don Carlos accompanies the protagonist's silent consumption.