ExtraCandoni
In 2005, six Italian theatres joined together to relaunch the Premio Candoni Arta Terme, an annual prize awarded to new playwrights. Their cooperation led to the creation of Extracandoni, a network of theatres committed to the promotion, production and distribution of new theatrical works.
Six Italian theatres, working under the umbrella name Extracandoni, have joined forces in a shared commitment to pool their resources and expertise for the purposes of supporting and promoting the development of new theatre writing. The theatres involved in this innovative new venture are: CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del FVG, Teatro Kismet OperA stabile di innovazione (Bari), Nuovo Teatro Nuovo stabile di innovazione (Neaples), Teatro Litta Teatro stabile di innovazione (Milan), Teatro Eliseo (Rome) and Arca Azzurra Teatro (S. Casciano - Florence).
To achieve its mission, Extracandoni plans to pool the resources of its seven members to launch a programme of action at national level which, beginning with the commission of new theatrical works, will also encompass production and theatre distribution. Through a wide range of initiatives and actions designed to increase access to theatrical tools and resources, new playwrights will have the opportunity to meet and built relationships with theatre companies, directors and producers. These new initiatives will build on the work already achieved in recent editions of the Premio Candoni, not only by encouraging new theatre writing through the paid commission of new dramas but also by guaranteeing the future staging of new theatre works (thanks to the undertaking of the seven theatres to co-produce these works) and their distribution through the Extracandoni network of theatres, each guaranteeing the hosting of these productions during their respective theatre seasons.
For the first edition of ExtraCandoni, the writing commission was awarded to the playwright Renato Gabrielli. His new work, entitled Salviamo i bambini, will be produced and staged during the 2005- 2006 theatre season at all seven theatres in the ExtraCandoni network. The production, which premiered at the Teatro S. Giorgio in Udine on 28 March 2006, subsequently embarked on a 45 performance tour which ran until 16 June 2006, taking in the cities of Bari, San Casciano Val di Pesa, Bologna, Naples, Rome and Milan.
In addition, ExtraCandoni is launching a new initiative aimed at encouraging new ideas in theatre writing. This will run on an annual basis and will involve seven up-and-coming playwrights (or playwriting partnerships) who will be asked to develop new on-going theatre writing projects to be presented during the prize festival. The playwrights selected for the first edition are: Mariano Dammacco, Mario Gelardi and Giuseppe Miale di Mauro, Roberto Traverso, Gianni Forte and Stefano Ricci, Fabio Monti, Alessandro Berti and Marina Mizzau.
The 2007 edition of ExtraCandoni festival took place at Teatro S. Giorgio in Udine in May. This two-day event, aimed at promoting Italian and international playwriting, included a series of talks and debates and was opened to both the public and theatre professionals.
ExtraCandoni is twinned with London’s International Playwriting Festival organized by the Warehouse Theatre with whom CSS has enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship over the years.
