Directed by: Natacha Belova and Teresita Iacobelli
Dramaturgy by: Tita Iacobelli
Staging, Dramaturgy, Set and Puppet Design: Natacha Belova
Choreography and Outside Eye: Nicole Mossoux
Assisting Dramaturg and Outside Eye: Raven Rüell
Lighting Design: Christian Halkin
Puppets by: Loïc Nebreda
Sound Design: Simón González
Costume designer: Jackye Fauconnier
Set Designer and Stage Manager: Camille Burckel de Tell
Production Manager: Javier Chávez
Artistic Production: Daniel Córdova
Lighting Direction: Gauthier Poirier dit Caulier
Production: Compagnie Belova-Iacobelli
Co-producers: Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles, Théâtre de Poche Bruxelles, L’Atelier Théâtre Jean Vilar Louvain-la-Neuve, Maison de la Culture de Tournai, Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes Charleville-Mézières, Fondation Corpartes Santiago Chili, Le théâtre de la Cité de Toulouse

Thanks for the artistic contribution to Sophie Warnant

Performed by: Marta Pereira and Tita Iacobelli

Premiere: 25 Septembre 2021, Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes Charleville-Mézières, France

A theatre project ‘Loco’ is inspired by a short story ‘Diary of a Madman’ by a Russian writer Nikolai Gogol as well as Gogol’s own life and mental illness, and in part by our own experiences.
N. Gogol’s ‘Diary of a Madman’ is an absurd tale about the thin line between reason and insanity. Gogol himself is a controversial figure, being of Ukrainian descent, he rejected everything Ukrainian and stood for Russian culture, lifestyle and imperialist worldview. But as it happens sometimes, his writings surpassed his personality, and have indeed unveiled and deconstructed the mode of thinking and worldview, that is actually a catalyst of the war that part of Europe is suffering now.
The story’s main character is Poprishchin, a civil servant whose life is thrown into turmoil following an encounter with the director’s daughter, Sofi. The love he feels for the inaccessible Sofi sets him on a delirious search for identity. “Maybe I am an earl or a general. Why do I look as if I’m just an insignificant employee? Maybe even I don’t know who I am.” As he puzzles over his status, he is compelled to question and investigate everything – even Sofi’s dog, Meggy. Eventually, madness offers Poprishchin the chance to break free of his miserable life when he proclaims himself Ferdinand VIII, King of Spain. One may call this story prophetic as it follows the very genesis of fascism, authoritarianism – a somewhat banal figure inclined for order and perverse justice, sets to a journey to become someone important, to change the world, and in the end – to break mad.

Natacha Belova
She was born in Russia, graduated in history, and has lived in Belgium since 1995. After initial work as a costume and set designer on the Belgian and international performing arts circuits, she went on to specialise in contemporary puppetry. Working on numerous projects in theatre, as well as in dance, circus, cinema and opera, she acquired a great depth of experience that drove her to instigate her own projects. Her first creations came in the form of exhibitions and installations.

Tita Iacobelli
She began her career as an artist in 2001. In 2003, she won the Best Actress Award at the Nuevos Directores festival. Since 2005, she has worked as an actress and puppeteer, as well as co-directing several works by Jaime Lorca’s Viajeinmóvil Company. She also gives puppetry workshops. Her work on various stages in Europe and the Americas has included productions such as ‘Gulliver’ (2006) and ‘Othello’ (2012). Her close ties to music led her to direct several musicals with the youth theatre company Teatro de Ocasión, and theatrical concerts with the Chilean jazz-fusion ensemble Congreso and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Santiago Municipal Theatre.

Awards
Nominated for the Maeterlinck Prize of the Critics (Belgium) in the category ‘Artistic and technical realisation’, 2022;
Best Set Design Prize by Círculo de Críticos de Arte de Chile, 2022.
Official selection at Venice Theatre Biennale 2021.

“A play for two performers in a sober and intelligent staging, a razor-sharp writing that
admirably plays with the symbolic possibilities of the puppet, and an impressive
interpretation-manipulation of mastery and nuance. A jewel of precision and poetry.”, Mathieu Dochtermann, Toute la culture, Marionnette pour noctambules avisés, 15 March 2022

“A masterpiece of finesse and subtlety. (…) A magnificent show, poetic and endearing,
not to be missed under any circumstances.”, Catherine Sokolowski, Demandez le programme, 11 October 2021