Tatuaggi marks a belated Rome debut for this acclaimed production by Galleria Toledo, the most important experimental theater in Naples. Tatuaggi transports Genet's incisiveness to the Neapolitan criminal world via Enrico Fiore's translation into Neapolitan dialect. In Laura Angiulli's tight direction, three convicts combine aggression with desire in a highly-charged atmosphere. A lifer (Lello Serao as the Sailor) is the object of repulsion and admiration by Peppe and Alfredo, who envy his cold-blooded murders. While the Sailor escapes into dream-like narratives, continued provocation between the other two leads to violence, with Peppe strangling Alfredo, as if to satisfy an ancient prophesy.
In this production, the specific dialogue is less important than the mood of unrelenting psychological and physical brutality. That none of the three is a conventionally beautiful type adds to the believability of the drama. The actors are contained within a no-exit cage of solid iron bars (set by Rosario Squillace) like animals, with the audience made to feel like boxing ring spectators. Adding a note of reality, a lone accordionist sitting on the far right occasionally intones a plaintive melody. Cesare Accetta's lighting picks out unexpected aspects of the action, but there are times one wishes for less mystery and more opportunity to see faces and expressions.
A film version of Tatuaggi with the same cast was shown at the Venice Film Festival last year. Ms. Angiulli is currently developing a companion film to portray the wives of these convicts.
