Teatro Nucleo is a true legend in the world of independent and alternative theatre; an Argentine-Italian theatre company working within the field of anthropological and social theatre.
The company was founded in 1974 in Argentina by Cora Herrendorf and Horacio Czertok. In 1978, fleeing the repression of Jorge Videla’s military junta, the artists settled in Ferrara, Italy, where the theatre remains active to this day.
From the outset, Teatro Nucleo’s work has been characterised by a strong social commitment. The artists actively engaged in initiatives supporting marginalised people, thereby laying the foundations for contemporary art therapy. They worked with people suffering from neurological and mental illnesses, playing an active role in transforming the oppressive psychiatric care system in Italy. Cora Herrendorf developed her own original method of theatrical work with people with psychophysical disabilities. From the very start, the actors also ran theatre workshops with prisoners in correctional facilities, treating art as a method of rehabilitation.
In addition to educational and workshop activities, Nucleo’s main focus is on open-air performances – as the most egalitarian and direct form of interaction between actors and audiences.
Teatro Nucleo developed its own aesthetic for outdoor performances, which had a huge influence on the development of this genre in Europe. The hallmarks of this style are Nucleo’s monumental productions, which utilise large metal scaffolding structures, fire and pyrotechnics as sources of light and vehicles for conveying meaning, alongside the actors’ precise and emotive performances. Suffice it to say that Polish outdoor theatre, represented by Teatr Ósmego Dnia, and later Teatr Biuro Podróży, Teatr A Part and other Polish companies working in outdoor spaces, owes its distinctive, at once raw, spectacular and emotionally stirring formula to Teatro Nucleo. The best-known and, one might say, quintessential example of this style is the 1990 production “QUIJOTE!” – a street adaptation of Miguel de Cervantes’s work, directed by Cory Herrendorf. The production toured the world, becoming one of the most famous outdoor performances in history.
In 2024, to mark the group’s 50th anniversary, the production was revived, directed by the artists’ daughter Natasha Czertok and her father Horacio, who this time also played the lead role.
Cora Herrendorf passed away in 2023. The production has been performed as a tribute to this outstanding artist, activist and social campaigner.
Teatro Nucleo returns to Katowice exactly 30 years after its last appearance at our festival to present its most iconic production for the finale of this year’s edition.
Directed by: Horacio Czertok, Natasha Czertok
Cast: actors and actress of Teatro Nucleo
Lighting: Renato Carpentieri
Set design and costumes: Remi Boinot
Costume design: Maria Ziosi, actors and actresses of Teatro Nucleo and Linda Mazzoni
Set Design: Laboratorio Scenografia Pesaro of Lidia Trecento, Remi Boinot, Christophe Cardoen and Andrea Pistoia
Narrator’s voice: Marcin Kęszycki
Premiere: May 2024
Duration of the performance: 75 minutes
Production: Teatro Nucleo with the support of the Italian Ministry of Culture (MiC), the Emilia-Romagna Region and the Municipality of Ferrara
Free admission.
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