Romeo Castellucci's 'Il Terzo Reich' premieres at Triennale Milano as Grand Invité

On June 9, 2021, Romeo Castellucci's 'Il Terzo Reich' opens at Triennale di Milano as part of the FOG Triennale Milano Performing Arts festival, marking the start of his four-year tenure as Grand Invité (2021–2024). Castellucci, co-founder of Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio, recipient of the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale and Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, is a leading figure in European contemporary theatre and opera. The performance projects approximately 25,000 Italian nouns onto a megascreen at a speed of one-twentieth of a second each, creating a retinal and mnemonic bombardment that interrogates the dictatorship of language and naming. The title references Victor Klemperer's 'Lingua Tertii Imperii', a study of Nazi linguistic propaganda. Castellucci's work examines how language can be weaponized to manipulate consciousness. The piece includes a symbolic ceremonial 'ignition' of language before the projection. Collaborators include Scott Gibson (sound) and Gloria Dorliguzzo (choreography).