‘M the son of the century’ by Scurati with Popolizio at the Argentina theater in Rome

Mussolini is ‘back’ – paraphrasing the title, ‘I’m back’, of the film directed by Luca Miniero – and returns to having the body and voice of Massimo Popolizio, flanked by Tommaso Ragno, this time at the theater – to Argentina in Rome from 4 March to 3 April, after the debut at the Piccolo in Milan – with the show signed by the actor and director, based on the historical novel ‘M The son of the century’ written by Antonio Scurati. The six years from 1919 to 1925 pass under the spotlight, i.e. from the birth of fascist nationalism after the Great War to the march on Rome and the definitive transformation of fascism into a dictatorial regime, the rise and consecration of the Duce, up to the famous speech by Benito Mussolini before the Parliament in which, also with reference to the Matteotti crime, he claims that “if fascism was a criminal association, I am the leader”. On stage, eighteen actors alternate to tell stories with eighty characters – historical and theatrical protagonists are Benito Mussolini as well as his supporting actors, who speak ‘ronconian’ in first person in third person, from Marinetti to D’Annunzio, from Margherita Sarfatti to Italo Balbo , from Pietro Nenni and Giacomo Matteotti – the ascending parable of the Duce and of the squadism that becomes politics, for a co-production of the Teatro di Roma with the Piccolo Teatro di Milano and with the Luce Cinecittà institute, for an adaptation of the novel by Scurati in about thirty ‘theatrical pictures’ and with a circular structure that opens and closes with the last bar of the book “The text of the show aims to stage a plastic and expressionist representation of the affirmation of fascism – he explains in the notes of directed by Massimo Popolizio – A story, the one that leads Italy to fascism, which is never known enough, in particular that of the six years following the Great War, with the im the taking of Fiume, the tilting of the country towards the socialist revolution, the reaction and the spread of squadism, the daring March on Rome which this year marks the centenary and the inexorable effectiveness of a political doctrine that escapes the categories of judgment with violent action “. (by Enzo Bonaiuto)