Roberto Capaldo

by and with Roberto Capaldo
video and technical processing Marco Ferrara 
directing collaboration Fabrizio Di Stante
leather masks Piero Ottusi
puppets Antonio Catalano
chinese culture consultant Diang Zuanfheng
co-produced by Casa degli Alfieri and Universi Sensibili
Winner of the call “Storie di lavoro” 2011

Zuo Jaobing was a man. Former Maoist. Former communist. Former peasant. Former worker. Ex-alive. Extra-terrestrial because he is Chinese, so absolutely different and incomprehensible that he needs subtitles. His body rests on the shoulders of Chang Showei, his lifelong friend, who walks a long way, for kilometres, for days. He crosses the boundless economic empire of 21st century China to give the body the honour of being buried in its birthplace. Going against the rules of the “civilised” world, Chang involuntarily performs a heroic act, guided only by his instinct and his “shoes”. An interweaving of true stories that, passing from Mao’s cultural revolution to the conditions of Asian workers, comes down to us, for whom Made in China is just the label on the products we buy. Masks, puppets, faces from the Beijing Opera House, Tai Chi fans, the adrenalin-pumping rhythms of award-winning advertisements, the red booklet, shadows, lights, projections, animated drawings, a broken TV set and a shoe.

Roberto Capaldo is a theatre author and actor. He cultivated his interest in figurative arts and stage space by graduating in Architecture in Rome and specialising in scenography at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan. In theatre he trained with Daniela Regnoli, Ferruccio Soleri, Francesco Gigliotti, Claudia Contin and Ferruccio Merisi. Other important formative meetings are with Living Theatre, Yves Lebreton, Elsa Fonda, Raul Yaiza, Letizia Quintavalla, Serena Sinigaglia. As an actor he has worked with Bindo Toscani, Marco Angelilli, Antonio Catalano, Bruno Stori, Giulio Molnar, Serena Sinigaglia, Carrozzeria Orfeo, Teatro Inverso. He writes and performs his own shows, often solos, for which he has won numerous awards (including the Manfredi Mastroianni De Sica Prize 2004 for best show and best leading actor; Calandra Prize 2007, Borsellino Prize 2008 for social and civil commitment, Italian show at the XI International Blacksea Festival). He carries out pedagogical activities in the field of social projects and at Idrafactory – Fabbrica del Teatro in Brescia.

MADE IN CHINA liberamente ispirato dalla storia vera di due contadini cinesi trailer