
A treasure in the areas of ancient Liternum – By P. Reeti
Realizing dreams through individual endeavor
In Napoli, it is well known, we have a certain propensity for creativity. It is not a cliché but a particular that strongly characterizes us and that is being masters in the art of making do.
Since ancient times, Neapolitan people, whether due to emergency, sudden changes or imposition of others, in short due to constant necessity, have been continually forced to adapt, to transform things according to needs. Always being exposed to precariousness has allowed us to refine this ability.
For us, as inhabitants of this city, it is almost a lifestyle that has even given birth to professions, activities and that has always allowed us to resist. We are extremely creative also because we never stop dreaming and we do not limit ourselves to that. In fact, we also make dreams come true!
For Michele Principe, dreaming was enough to create something beautiful and also productive.
Michele grew up in a family of carpenters and has always had a passion for theater.
One evening at the end of 2014, with some friends of his company, they decided to look for a place, even a garage, where they could rehearse for their theatrical show.
The many searches never led to the right place for their intent.
From warehouse to successful theater
His family had a warehouse of handmade furniture that passed through there before being delivered.
No one would ever have thought of it as a place where they could meet. But Michele dared, he had a flash of genius: he called his friends and told them he had found the place to meet and do theater.
It was an undervalued space. A dusty warehouse in conditions not at all suitable for their purpose but he had now decided to transform it and so he completely dismantled it to
make it reborn as a theater. He built from the platforms to the stage, up to the doors.
The systems, hydraulic and electrical, were made by companies and friends with whom he had collaborated in the past when he worked in the family business.
There were no seats, and those for theaters are very expensive. In a classifieds magazine he read about a theater, in Marigliano, a town 19 km from from Napoli, that had only been around for a few months and was therefore closing and selling off everything, including the seats. So he bought them at a good price.
In the meantime, the problem of acoustics arose.
Michele spoke with architect friends and realized that he would have to buy very expensive panels, but as soon as he put up the seats he realized that the acoustics were good and with spectators in the room the sound would improve even further.
The theater was ready, with its 75-90 seats, and Michele and his company founded an association Teatro Il Principe
based on self-financing. They paid the expenses, kept going and everyone continued their work, including him.
Until, towards the end of 2023, the numerous requests to participate in theater courses and workshops, the numerous sold-out shows of other companies, stole a lot of Michele’s time so much that he decided to leave his main job to dedicate himself entirely to the theater. He opened a VAT number and, since the theater was often full due to the numerous sold-outs, an upgrade in the ventilation system of the hall was necessary.
So collaborations with external bodies and municipalities began to emerge and they began to work a lot in the afternoon and evening, even during the Christmas period.
A program of winter shows and a program of summer shows with important names of the Neapolitan theater such as Gea Martire, Benedetto Casillo, Fabio Brescia, 4 theater workshops and other initiatives such as art exhibitions and photography, made Il Principe theater blossom in the space of a couple of years.
Last July, Il Principe theater, with the patronage of the Municipality of Giugliano in Campania, organized the first edition of the Scipio Festival on the occasion of the opening of the Liternum Park, which took place in June, which was the location where, for 4 days, the following shows were performed: “Nino”: a piano and voice recital performed by Lalla Esposito, “Calliope”: a format that consists in the experience of mixing the arts, from literature to music and theater, “Ad occhi aperti”(with open eyes) a comedy written and directed by Fernando Passiante with the company “I nudi alla meta”(naked at the finish line), “Assolo per duo”(solo for two): a recital by Ernesto Lama who brings to the stage great classics of Neapolitan song and theater. The Scipio Festival was an extraordinary event, not only for the diffusion of culture but also for the revaluation of the territory.
Michele’s wife, Sabrina Sapio, together with their 2 little girls, one of whom has already made her debut, is part of the team. She is a singer who has participated in talent shows and has done television and is also an actress who, together with Imma Pagano, takes care of theater workshops for children and also works elsewhere.
Michele is keen to point out that since he is not a therapist he does not sell the courses as a solution to certain problems of the kids. Therefore those who enroll their children in the theater workshops of Il Principe should not expect anything. However, the magic happens and he himself cannot explain how and why.
He can only note that kids who do not even speak or greet and who have serious social problems, during the performances are transformed, gain confidence, have well-positioned voices and are professional in their performance.
This magic is simply due to the theater that unites, and at Il Principe theater, evidently, a synergy is created that is able to make everyone grow and make them cooperate and feel good together.
M.P.: “It happened to me too, when I was a teenager. I was shy and introverted but the theater transformed me. I cannot explain what happened. And precisely because I cannot explain it to myself, I cannot theorize it therefore I cannot sell it to myself. I have trouble telling parents that there is no therapy here. What happens is a very pleasant side effect of the theater.”
After some experience in the school environment his uncle noticed his talent in acting and suggested that he cultivate this art. However, Michele’s first experience with an amateur company was not very pleasant in a tormenting vibe where the actors spoke badly of each other, they were unprofessional. He felt uncomfortable, so much so that after 3 shows he left the company thinking he never wanted to return to acting.
One day a friend of his convinced him to audition in Fernando Passiante’s company that performed in the language. Even though he had not studied diction he was given a part. This company was very important to Michele, so much so that he still works with it today. The actors helped him improve and grow theatrically, they always followed him and with them he got to know another type of theater, the English and the American one, he got to know Neil Simon, Kaufmann, new visions of theater opened up to him so he decided to continue.
Afterwards he studied at L.ar.te.s. theater, in Aversa with Rocco Di Santi.
M.P.: “I started studying theater technique late because I couldn’t find a school that taught the scenic approach that I liked. One day I saw some kids acting in Aversa. They were very good, I liked the setup, I liked the scenic approach. Their teacher was Rocco Santi. I chose him as my teacher and for 6 months, several times a week, we locked ourselves in a theater like this and worked on our bearing, our voice, the biomechanics of the actor…
It was a full immersion, while I continued to gain experience. I was also lucky enough to work with Enzo Moscato. That’s where my passion for Neapolitan avant-garde theater began, like that of De Bernardinis, Annibale Ruccello, Antonio Neiwiller…”
Today Michele continues to act with his company and a few others. he doesn’t look for auditions because he is very busy with the workshops, with the artistic direction of the theater, with the productions, and with the initiatives that he continually proposes. He has rediscovered the pleasure of working in the behind-the-scenes of the theater. In the choice of theatrical works, in the proposal of cultural initiatives, in the productions, in the choice of actors and he does it by continuing his research that is currently deepening on Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski.
M.P.: “Compared to everything I have studied about theatre, I believe that today the avant-garde, research, the elite, intellectual theatre, has not yet cleared the idea of comedy. If we take all the prizes of the cultural elite, there are never people with great comic skills. As if the comic aspect did not have a poetics in itself, did not have an artistic value in itself. So, as I have done in my two revisitations of Giambattista Basile’s ‘Pentamerone’, which start from the study I did of Artaud, and arrive at Grotowski’s poor theatre, because my ‘Rimango Basile 2.0’ is made with a rag on stage, a rag with holes in which the actors put their heads, their limbs, and act. Then someone moves, there is still dynamism on stage but more or less this immobility that I wanted to convey in this canvas. So it is Grotowski himself, there is nothing poorer than this. The actors are all dressed in black and a fable by Basile is represented. We performed this show for schools in theaters of 300 and 400 seats and I was able to leverage the comic skills of certain actors. What I intend to do is bring that timing, those comic rhythms into that type of theater. I mean… Starting from Grotowski, who tackled Marlow, Faust I put in Basile’s fable, I can put in a Peppino De Filippo, a Woody Allen…”…
This is his way to make the most of the various arts by mixing them within a line that in this case is poor theater and bring it to a commercial level, make it accessible to everyone. It doesn’t matter that the audience knows what is behind the choice of a scenography, what study and what reference, Michele is interested in the audience feeling the sensorial aspect that is not only that of the voice, of the joke, but that of the fusion of the arts.
At the Il Principe theater, theater workshops are available, for children and adults, where we work on the bio-mechanics of the actor, vocal setting, diction, emotionality and more.
Theater workshops for children directed by Imma Pagano and supervised by Sabrina Sapio.
6-8 years
9-12 years
Theater workshops for teenagers, 13-17 years, and for adults, directed by Michele Principe.