RovelloDue – Luca Ronconi

RovelloDue – Piccolo Spazio Politecnico is the result of the meeting between
the Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa and the Politecnico di Milano,
two organisations bound by a profound common vision and a long history
of collaboration.
Open every day, admission free of charge, with an independent entrance in via
Rovello, it is a multimedia venue for theatre which houses temporary interactive
exhibitions.
The first area welcomes visitors with a narration of words, images and video.
Information on the building is followed by a presentation of the prominent
moments in the stories of the Piccolo and the Politecnico, the two souls of
RovelloDue Piccolo Spazio Politecnico: from the foundation, to the people who
created the history of the two institutions, right up to the great productions and
inventions, the two stories ran parallel. In 2002, with the staging of Infinities at the
Bovisa, written by the English mathematician John D. Barrow and directed by
Luca Ronconi, the Piccolo and the Politecnico came together to begin a shared
journey of infinite research.
Passing through a theatre “curtain”, visitors are plunged into an immersive
environment, created to host temporary exhibitions with a strong multimedia
impact.
The first initiative – from 20 February to 17 March – is an affectionate tribute
to Luca Ronconi.
I cannot deny the dream that I have followed for a lifetime: among the recesses
of space, the interstices of time, to present an infinite show. In these words by the
Maestro lies the sense of the venue: beginning with the key words Space, Time,
Words, it is an opportunity to actively explore the work of Ronconi at the Piccolo.
The various multimedia content – photographs, excerpts of productions, sounds,
interviews – activated directly by visitors, recreates emotions and atmospheres
from Ronconi’s creative career. It is a way of respecting his “dream” of infinite
journeys created by each spectator within their own memories.
The experience is also enriched by images of all of the productions that, from
2000 to 2015, narrate Ronconi’s experience at the Piccolo, while black and white
photographs bear witness to his work with the students of the School of Theatre
which in now dedicated to him.
Theatre has given me the opportunity to live, work, and, above all, to learn.
In the theatre as Luca Ronconi saw it, as a privileged form of exploration of reality,
lies the sense of the exceptionality of Infinities, the show that the Piccolo and the
Politecnico di Milano created together, demonstrating the “infinity” of possibilities
of that which can be performed.
Video clips show the Maestro during rehearsals, in the areas of the Bovisa,
surrounded by actors, students and researchers from the Politecnico, chosen, as
he said, as living footnotes, because one cannot “drop” into a scientific discourse,
either one is knowledgeable or one is not, and with whom he shared a saying
which is at the foundation of all research, both aesthetic and scientific: the best
part is not the applying of a method, it is experimenting and discovering.