Inspired Visual Theatre

Giacomo Ravicchio (born 1958). Award-winning playwright, director, set designer and actor. Co-founder of Meridiano in 1995. From 1974 until 1995, affiliated with the Teatro dell'Angolo in Turin.

Magical realism, poetry, humour and a visual – almost filmic – narrative form is characteristic of Giacomo Ravicchio’s performances. He freely mixes classical theatre with other artistic forms of expression.  He uses modern technology and very simple techniques in his powerful imagery.

The theatre has created a sophisticated artistic idiom with performances that speak to the senses across cultures, generations and social backgrounds. The topics are mythical and existential, dealing with what it is to be human.

The performances are composed musically, interweaving diverse theatrical forms in graceful rhythms.  The theatre constantly explores new modes of expression in order to revitalize theatre as a form of expression and to create its unique universal idiom.

There are performances for both adults and children in the repertoire. 

Current Productions

Adult Performances

TRANSIT
(2007)
At a large international airport all flights in the area that day are forced to land. Men and women on their way to different destinations have to spend an unknown number of hours in no-man’s land. A magical visual play about the human senses – nine consciousnesses - nine stories - which in Giacomo Ravicchio’s unique theatre are strangely woven together - a total sensory experience played by nine actors, musicians and dancers.
Language versions: Danish and English

Vor Underfulde Verden / Our Wonderful World
(2006)
A strong, poetic and intimate performance staged in a visually beautiful show. Poul is in the midst of a divorce, when his mother is struck by senile dementia.  As he watches her disappear into her own world, we experience their relationship in a touching and humorous retrospective.
Language versions: Danish and English  

Comoedia Humana
(2003)
Visual and satirical poetic performance about seven people, set against the backdrop of the pulsating metropolis. A dreamlike series of moving images sends the characters into situations where boundaries between everyday life, memories, and miracles begin to blur.  Well-spiced with down-to-earth humour from the robust tradition of Italian commedia dell’arte.
Language versions: Danish and English

Chaplin
(2002)
A poetic and humorous performance and an elegant fusion of theatre and film.  It deals with the man behind the myth of Charlie Chaplin. Chaplin’s uniquely stylish and coarse-grained comedy plays against the drama of his actual life and the political situation of the time.
Language versions: Danish and English

Earth, air, water, fire
(2000)
50 years of world history told in 5 hours in a visually magical performance.  A love story of two young people who meet and part in the 1950s.  We follow their journey through life and the world, even as the story moves associatively through time and space. – Among angels and demons, floating cosmonauts, pyramids, ships from a frothy sea of ice, and much, much more.
Language versions: Danish and English


Childrens' Performances

Genesis
(2006)
A play about the myth above all myths: the Beginning. Genesis takes the audience on a three-dimensional journey across the universe. An enigmatic tale of life’s mystery, told in magical images, live music and very few words.
Language versions: Danish, English, French, German, Swedish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Age group: 5-11 years old
Max. audience number: Depends on the stage

Review Extracts

”Meridiano is everything good you can say about theatre: Grotesque and lyrical and political and, ultimately, human in a sublime, self-constructed theatre world that whirls about on the stage with infectious Italian madness.”
Information (DK), Comoedia Humana

”Provides plenty of laughs but eventually had most of the teenage audience, and me, in tears.”
The Scotsman (Edinburgh/UK), Our Wonderful World

”The most powerful and beautiful theatre of its sort we have in Denmark....  Miracles are born before our eyes.”
Jyllands-Posten (DK), Earth, air, water, fire

“Un spectacle parlant qui laisse muet …. La pièce, précise comme le réalisateur, simple comme l’acteur Chaplin, repose sur des effets scéniques efficacies … Bravo Ravicchio! Bravo Meridiano!”
Le Progrès (FR), Chaplin

International Tours

2008
8 - 16 February: Théâtre Nouvelle Generation, (Lyon, FR)

2007
July-August: Shanghai International Children Theatre Festival, (Shanghai, CN)

2006
Nordic House, (Krakóv, PL)

During the period between 2000-2005, the theatre has twice participated in the Imaginate Festival (Edinburgh/UK), been on tour to the Shetland Islands, and played at the Biennale du Théâtre (Lyon/FR)