Year: 2010/ 2011
Lenght: 60 min 

This project includes two different works, Ouija and The Game of the Princess, the first of which went on to become an actual production while the second remained in the version of the staged reading. 
The two works were created as part of the events celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy in 2011.
        
Ouija is a spiritualistic séance, performed live by an actress, using Apple’s GarageBand technology for the synthesis of different voices. The play is inspired by the amorous correspondence between the Count Camillo Benso di Cavour and his first lover, Anna Schiaffino Giustiniani, called Nina (published in Letters of Love by Maria Avetta), who committed suicide in 1841. It is a story of love, death and power in the context of the Italian struggle for Unification.

The Game of the Princess is a drama based on biographical, iconographic and historical documents about the extraordinary life of Cristina di Belgiojoso, a Milanese Countess with a multifaceted life. As a noblewoman with political aspirations, the Countess di Belgiojoso finds herself living through the key places and the decisive events of the Italian struggle for Unification: the Genoa of Mazzini, the Paris of Lafayette, the Revolution of ’48, the Milanese uprising (in which Countess di Belgiojoso led 200 Neapolitan volunteers to Rome), the tragic events of the Roman Republic and her exile to a remote village east of Ankara, which was connected with the life of the harem.

Year: 2010/2011
Lenght: 60 min

Ouija is a spiritualistic séance, performed live by an actress, using Apple’s GarageBand technology for the synthesis of different voices.


The play is inspired by the amorous correspondence between the Count Camillo Benso di Cavour and his first lover, Anna Schiaffino Giustiniani, called Nina (published in Letters of Love by Maria Avetta), who committed suicide in 1841. It is a story of love, death and power in the context of the Italian struggle for Unification.

The style of the performance is participatory: it takes the form of a magical rite in which the actress’s body is inhabited by spirits from the past, and involves engagement with the audience, which is seated in a circle around the actress.


Although the production is ideally suited for spaces with natural acoustics such as churches, salons/ reception halls and other period buildings, it can also be made to fit in a traditional theater space. 


Produced with the support of the Committee of 150 Years, the City of Turin and space OGR of Turin, this is the first production by Pavlov's Dog.

Year: 2010/ 2011
Lenght: 60 min 

The Game of the Princess is a drama based on biographical, iconographic and historical documents about the extraordinary life of Cristina di Belgiojoso, a Milanese Countess with a multifaceted life.
As a noblewoman with political aspirations, the Countess di Belgiojoso finds herself living through the key places and the decisive events of the Italian struggle for Unification: the Genoa of Mazzini, the Paris of Lafayette, the Revolution of ’48, the Milanese uprising (in which Countess di Belgiojoso led 200 Neapolitan volunteers to Rome), the tragic events of the Roman Republic and her exile to a remote village east of Ankara, which was connected with the life of the harem. 


The text, which embodies the relationship between history and creative fiction, shows how theater can serve as a domain for developing the motives, feelings and emotions of historical figures. 


The text contains 12 characters and was presented in the form of a staged reading at the conference L'Histoire derrière le Rideau: Ecritures scéniques du Risorgimento at the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (INHA) in Paris.

Year: 2008/ 2012
Lenght: 80 min 

The project is based on the play Boston Marriage, an ironic and amusing text by American playwright David Mamet, screenwriter of such masterpieces as The Postman Always Rings Twice and The Untouchables. “Boston Marriage” was a term used in late 19th-century Boston society to describe a type of female same-sex partnership. Two ladies and former lovers, Anna and Claire, find themselves in Anna’s house after several years apart.

The set is right out of the 19th century. Small clues make it clear from the outset that the ladies’ elegance is a façade. Adding to the humorous exchanges between Anna and Claire is the character of the naïve but comical maid who cannot do anything right. The story is simple and not participatory, but the ironic language and sharp female characters captivate the audience. 
The text, already a success in the United States, was in this case adapted for the “drawing rooms”/ reception halls of large houses in several Italian cities. The show ran for most seasons, with 200 repeat performances before its official debut in January 2012, in the foyer of the Teatro Gobetti, as part of the season of the Teatro Stabile di Torino. 


Boston Marriage offers an opportunity to experience the relationship between drama and space, and to see how the life of the characters and the writing changes from one “drawing room” to the next.

With so many productions and photoshoots, these are just a few that can be licensed for use by the public.

Please send an email if you would like to discover more about Ms. Coppola’s works.