It is 3 August 1667. In his Roman studio, an ageing Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the foremost artistic authority in Baroque Rome, angrily recalls Francesco Borromini, the great architect from Ticino with whom he has shared years of rivalry and conflict. When news of Borromini’s death arrives, something changes: anger gives way to compassion, and for a moment the rival becomes an artist whose worth deserves recognition. From this encounter that never took place, Marco Martinelli develops an exploration of competition, ambition and relationships between artists. The seventeenth-century world of Bernini and Borromini thus becomes a lens through which to examine the present, its contradictions and the difficulty of acknowledging the talent of those we consider our adversaries. Written and directed by Martinelli, who conceived the production with Ermanna Montanari, Lettere a Bernini brings a central figure of Baroque Rome to the stage, exploring through his relationship with his enemy the need to assert oneself and the possibility of seeing things differently.

conceived by Marco Martinelli and Ermanna Montanari
with Marco Cacciola
messenger angel Alessandro Monte and Benedetta Nina Tosolini (alternating)
directed by Marco Martinelli
original music and sound design Marco Olivieri
set design Edoardo Sanchi
lighting design Luca Pagliano
sound technician Paolo Baldini
video technician Gilberto Bonzi
language consultants Valeria Pollice and Gianni Vastarella
Albe / Ravenna Teatro
Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / Teatro Nazional