Toni Servillo
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Autor
Actor and director Toni Servillo was born in Afragola in 1959. In 1977
Servillo founded the Teatro Studio in Caserta for whom he directed
'Propaganda' (1979), 'Norma' (1982), 'Billy il bugiardo' (1983) and
'Guernica' (1985), amongst others. In 1986 he collaborated with the
Falso Movimento group, interpreting 'Ritorno ad Alphaville' by Mario
Martone and staging 'E...' on the texts of Eduardo De Filippo. Servillo
became one of the founders of Teatri Uniti in 1987, continuing work as
actor and director in the poetic and dramatic Neapolitan theatrical
language. Such plays included: 'Partitura' (1988) and 'Rasoi' (1991) by
Enzo Moscato; 'Adda passà a nuttata' (1989) by Eduardo De Filippo;
'Zingari' (1993) by Raffaele Viviani; and 'Sabato, domenica e lunedì'
(2002), an award-winning re-working of De Filippo's masterpiece. With
Il Misantropo (1995) and 'Tartufo' (2000) by Molière, and 'Le false
confidenze' (1998) by Marivaux, all translated by Cesare Garboli, he
staged a triptych on 17-18th century French theatre. Toni Servillo also
presented 'L'uomo dal fiore in bocca' (1990/96) by Luigi Pirandello;
'Natura morta' (1990) about the 23rd Congress of the Soviet Union
Communist Party; 'Da Pirandello a Eduardo' (1997); and 'L'uomo dal
fiore in bocca' coupled with 'Sik Sik, l'artefice magico' by Eduardo De
Filippo at the Teatro San Joao in Oporto. With Mimmo Paladino he
realised 'Iliade/ Odissea' (2001) as an installation reading from
Homer's masterpieces. He also appeared in 'Eliogabalo' (1981) directed
by Memè Perlini; 'I Persiani' (1990) and 'Edipo Re' (2000) directed by
Mario Martone; 'Il cavaliere dell'intelletto' (1994) by Franco
Battiato; with Mariangela Melato in 'Tango barbaro' (1995) directed by
Elio De Capitani; and in the roles of Geppetto and Fire-Eater in Andrea
Renzi's transposition of 'The Adventures of Pinocchio' (2001). In 1999
Servillo made his directorial debut in musical theatre with the first
staging in modern times of 'La cosa rara' by Martin y Soler. This was
followed by Lorenzo Da Ponte's libretto for the Venice Opera House,
where in 2000 he staged 'Le nozze di Figaro' by Mozart. In 2001 he
realised 'Il marito disperato' by Cimarosa for the San Carlo Opera
House in Naples and 'Boris Godunov' by Mussorgskij at the Teatro Sao
Carlos in Lisbon, where in 2003 he also staged 'Ariadne auf Naxos' by
Richard Strauss.