as part of the Fabbrica Europa 2026 festival

CLOWN • SCHNAPSIDEE arose from the encounter between actor Ian Gualdani and director Jonathan Bertolai, who had previously collaborated on CALIGULA. Underdog/upset. Returning together, they worked to bring to life a theatrical adaptation of Henrich Böll’s novel The Clown.

The creative process developed through several phases of research and led to the construction of a show set in a metaphysical space, inhabited by analog devices dedicated to memory: slides, cassettes, film projections…

Within this mental landscape, the protagonist Hans, a clown portrayed by Ian Gualdani, pieces together fragments of his own life: from the still-open wound of his lost love for Maria – the lens through which Hans observes the hypocrisy of society – to the traumas of a childhood marked by war and by a militaristic family environment.

This journey through memories reveals Hans’s clownish sensibility, his quirks, his worldview, and his sharp, unsettling opinions. The Hans brought to life on stage by Gualdani is gently melancholic, comical, and fragile, but also critical, radical, and incisive.

Jonathan Bertolai works as author and director. He has created and led theater workshops for kids and is currently the president and artistic director of MAT-Movimenti Artistici Trasversali, with which he organizes and curates theater festivals.

Ian Gualdani works across physical theatre, drama, and contemporary performance art. He has collaborated with Teatro Del Carretto, MAT, and artists such as Angelica Liddell, Romeo Castellucci, Gabriele Lavia, Andrea Baracco, Francesca Foscarini, Stefano Questorio, Gloria Dorliguzzo and Greta Francolini.He curates projects for Opera del Rosso and works as a trainer for FITMO in Ouagadougou, Colloque International, and Silvio d’Amico Academy.

from Henrich Böll
dramaturgical adaptation: Jonathan Bertolai and Ian Gualdani
directed by: Jonathan Bertolai
with: Ian Gualdani
featuring: Giacomo Vezzani and the voices of Elsa Bossi, Woody Neri, and Jacopo Venturiero
assistant director: Silvia Bennett
sound design: Giacomo Vezzani
lighting design: Orlando Bolognesi
props: Matteo Raciti
costumes: Laura Bartelloni
stage photos, graphic design, and slides: Manuela Giusto
16mm film and processing: Tiziano Doria and Samira Guadagnuolo – Warshadfilm
production: MAT – Movimenti Artistici Trasversali
production assistant: Giacomo Pecchia

photo (detail): Manuela Giusto