GRADUS. GIORNATE D’AUTORE
FOCUS IVAN VYRYPAEV
Author’s conversation withFlorian Borchmeyer
Readings fromIllusioni, Ufo, Genesi N.2, Agitazione, Ossigeno, Dreamworks, Ubriachi, Luglio, Mahamaya Electronic Devices, Gli unici alberi più alti della terra, New Constructive Ethics, Linea solare, Le vespe estive ci pungono anche a novembre, Abbracci insopportabilmente lunghi
Conferenza Iraniana, La danza di Delhi, Entertainment, Sogni, Zucchero
by and with Teodoro Bonci Del Bene
TEATRO DUE – Shakespeare 1
24TH NOVEMBER, 11 AM
The talk aims to give a succulent taste of the writing of what Fausto Malcovati has called the most important Russian playwright of the 21st century, a production from which, again quoting Malcovati, ‘the rot of a society that has repressed its dark sides for too many years comes to the surface with him. The post-Soviet underground comes to the surface, different, but in the end not too different, from the Dostoevskian one. His too, like Dostoevsky’s, but more extreme, is a humanity on the edge, deeply disturbed, psychically unstable, cynical, violent, sadistic, perverse. A humanity that knows no inhibitions, knows no taboos, takes drugs, gets drunk, attacks, kills, self-destructs. Vyrypaev does not blink: his eye observes, his ear listens, and life emerges twisted, confused, with its accidents, its absurdities, its pains, its vulgarities, its imbalances, its contradictions. In his texts there is us, us as we are. We with our inner chaos, our existential shambles, our hidden mess, our unpronounceable drives’.
The author and director Teodoro Bonci del Bene has been dealing with Ivan Vyrypaev since 2013 and is the translator of most of the Russian playwright’s texts, published in Italy by Cue Press. For the Giornate d’Autore, Bonci del Bene curates together with the author a patchwork of the plays, including those unpublished and never performed in Italy, Luglio, Mahamaya Electronic Devices, Gli unici alberi più alti della terra, Linea solare, Le vespe estive ci pungono anche a novembre, Abbracci insopportabilmente lunghi, Conferenza Iraniana, La danza di Delhi, Sogni, Zucchero.
Ivan Vyrypaev is a Polish playwright, screenwriter, film director, actor, and art director of Russian descent. Since 2022, he has also been the Artistic Director of the Warsaw-based international foundation Teal House. Vyrypaev’s plays have been staged worldwide, from South Korea to the USA, in more than 250 theaters. As a director, he has staged plays in theaters across Europe and the United States. In 2019, he was recognized as one of the top 10 most prominent playwrights globally. He is also a noted film director; his film ‘Euphoria’ was part of the main competition at the Venice Film Festival and received the ‘Youth Jury’ award and the ‘Small Golden Lion’ for the best film. Ivan has won numerous literary, theatrical, and film awards, including those from the Venice Film Festival, Stuckemarkt International Contemporary Drama Festival, Warsaw Film Festival, and Rome Film Festival, among others. Critics describe Ivan Vyrypaev’s work as a blend of Quentin Tarantino’s aesthetics and Andrei Tarkovsky’s spirituality.
He is known for his uncompromising stance against collaboration with the Russian state, especially after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which he vehemently denounced. He decided to donate all proceeds from the staging of his theatrical works in Russia to Ukraine, which led to a comprehensive ban on his works and a criminal case against him. Vyrypaev was arrested and sentenced in absentia to seven and a half years in prison for spreading false information about the Russian army, as per Article 207.3 of the Russian Criminal Code.
He is currently the artistic director and general producer of the Teal House Integral Development Foundation in Warsaw.
Teal House is an international cultural foundation based in Warsaw that connects displaced artists with global communities through culture and art. Founded by Karolina Gruszka and Ivan Vyrypaev in 2022, it supports those forced to leave their homes in their adaptation journey.
We provide displaced artists with opportunities for professional growth and creative expression, empowering them to integrate and make an impact in new cultural contexts. By nurturing individual development and talents, we expand global creative possibilities, strengthen cultural bonds, and spark humanity’s transformation.