«PETER STEIN (Richard II). The mirror of nature» is a documentary based on the figure of the great Mester Peter Stein in the year of his eightieth birthday and, at the same time, on the origin of his new play “RICHARD II”, starring actress Maddalena Crippa in the leading male role of Richard II. The work will not be just the documentary of the backstage of a play but a much more detailed and articulate analysis of Peter Stein’s work as well as of the ≪community of artists≫ who work with him in a never-ending mix of fiction and reality, of representation and everyday life.

The eye of the camera will follow the development of the play, from the reading stage to the debut in Verona, next to the Master, to be witness to his creative accuracy and his pure and faithful respect to the page. We will follow his tireless and extraordinary work on and with the actors, their living together while doing the rehearsal for more than a month in San Pancrazio, a tiny little village of seven or eight houses with a small church, where Peter Stein has been living with Maddalena Crippa for years; a place where this ≪theatrical community≫ live as in a rehearsal space where the rehearsal never stops and will continue beyond the normal working hours, throughout the day and for all the five weeks of preparation. We will live with this people, ready to follow everything that this stimulating theatrical humus can bring about through the passionate presence of director Nicola Scorza. Little daily stories or meditations lived and discussed ≪offstage≫ to continue that wonderful game between life and theater which we have, here and now, the rare opportunity to see.

In fact, as a body in its own right, a big “rehearsal room”, with adjoining dressing rooms, is just adjacent to the little Borgo, always within the St. Pancrazio property, the same memorable and consecrated space which saw the debut, as well as the rehearsals, of Dostoyevsky‘s "The Demons”, a magnificent and titanic theatre production (a 12 hours show without interruption). Like that spectacular show then, Richard II today immediately catches all our attention both for its own value and for Peter Stein’s choice to cast, for the first time ever in Italy, an actress for the role of the king.

Maddalena Crippa will interpret the role of Richard II, playing with the text’s present and past parallelisms, enriching it with shades and tones which, probably, only such a sophisticated interpreter could grasp and bring to life, at best. Moreover, the rest of the cast is entirely male: Alessandro Averone, a Graziano Piazza, da Paolo Graziosi, a Gianluigi Fogacci and many others.

We will be with them also in the final part of the production, in Prato, in Metastasio Theatre’s rehearsal space, in order to seize the delicate, last moments before the debut, in Verona.