A public letter signed by high-sounding names in the entertainment industry against the appointment of Luca De Fusco as the new general director of the Teatro di Roma: from Matteo Garrone to Elio Germano, from Lino Guanciale to Fanny&Alexander, from Roberto Latini to Vinicio Marchioni, individuals and companies lash out against what is considered a coup. The decision of the members of the board of directors in the Region and Ministry of Culture to proceed without the president of the Roman building, Francesco Siciliano, who had suspended the work while waiting to reconvene the session, and the councilor Natalia Di Iorio, with the result of ousting the Common.
The list of against
«The letter was published in the urgency of the events, it will be necessary to update it with all the names of a Roman and national community that is discussing itself at this moment and which, for exclusive reasons of time, was unable to be a signatory» the premise of the document, which contains the names of actors and associations, many of them independent, who in recent years have animated the venues of Argentina and the Teatro India (second location of the Teatro Stabile in Ostiense): Fabrizio Arcuri, Timpano/Frosini , Bluemotion, Sylvia De Fant, Valerio Vigliar, Giorgina Pi, Matteo Garrone, Elio Germano, Lino Guanciale, Marco Cavalcoli, Chiara Lagani, Luigi De Angelis, Marco Molduzzi, lacasad clay, Lisa Ferlazzo Natoli, Alessandro Ferroni, Maddalena Parise, Alice Palazzi, Roberto Latini, Lorenzo Letizi, Vinicio Marchioni, Stefano Ricci, Fabrizio Sinisi. The public of the capital has a habit of esteem and loyalty towards these interpreters. Will they be able to make their voices heard again? And the annoyance quickly turns into anger regarding the method of appointment.
The “trip”
The text starts from a summary of what happened: «On Saturday 20 January 2024 at 10 am the Teatro di Roma, in the figure of the president of the board of directors of the Teatro di Roma Foundation Francesco Siciliano, calls a press conference in which he announces a deep rift in the National Theater of our city on the appointment of the general director. Siciliano himself and councilor Di Iorio inform that they have requested the adjournment of the board of directors meeting to a date to be determined, while the three remaining members (representing the Ministry of Culture and the Lazio Region), despite the postponement requested by the president, have chosen to continue with the appointment of the new director”.
Argentina, Valle, Torlonia
Then the complaint: «It seems to us that, beyond any evaluation regarding the regularity of what happened (we limit ourselves in this regard to expressing some doubts regarding the appropriateness of a vice president appointed by the shareholders’ meeting operating in open contrast with the will of one of the shareholders themselves), the crucial question is that a decision of this importance was taken without the presence of the representation of the city of Rome in the figures of the president and councilor Di Iorio, representatives of the Municipality of Rome, the majority shareholder and owner of Teatro Argentina, Teatro India, Teatro Torlonia, Valle Theatre. The latter in
next months it should have been attributed to the Teatro di Roma”.
«We would need a figure with a broad and inclusive vision»
The artists are still pointing the finger: «We believe that this way of proceeding represents a serious blow to the relationship of loyalty and institutional respect that bind the Teatro della Capitale to the city, to us protagonists on stage, to the public as a whole and to those who commit every day to keep the stages going. After two years of administration, the choice of the general director was highly anticipated and is decisive for the relaunch. We would hope for a widely shared appointment of a competent figure who can lead to the cultural development of the Capital in all its components. A figure with a broad and inclusive vision, who knows how to guarantee solidity, pluralism, a profound knowledge of the institutional machine, of the national and international context and of the diversified and fruitful Roman territory”. Finally, a polemical underlining: «In the trio selected by the commission, which could have up to five names, there is neither gender parity nor young figures.
Presidium on Sunday in Argentina, wanted by Christian Raimo
The interpreters consider “the need to respond as an absolute moral duty”. Subscriptions to the letter are continuous. And we think of other, stronger actions. Already on Sunday afternoon at 4pm a demonstration will be held in front of the Argentina Theater entitled “The Theater of Rome belongs to everyone”. The announcement was launched on Facebook by the writer and former Councilor for Culture of the Third Municipality Christian Raimo. The Councilor for Culture of Rome Capital Miguel Gotor will also participate in the event. «Yesterday I received two emails almost at the same time – Raimo writes on social media -. That of the president Francesco Siciliano who said that there had been a coup in the board of directors and that the advice was invalid. And that of the board of directors which proclaimed Luca De Fusco as the new director. This is an act of institutional squadrism. A swarm of post-fascists decided to occupy the Theater of Rome, going against any administrative rule. It is not just a question of vision of the city – concludes the writer – but of democracy”.