SIMONA, THE GANGSTER OF ART

Simona, the gangster of art, features a female saint, a protagonist who is on a mission to restore one of the most essential duties of humanity: to fight for the power of beauty. She steals the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch and consumes it, digesting it, in small pieces, bite by bite. With several forgeries of the painting, she goes on to buy every possible supply of cocaine in the world. With that white powder, she builds her artwork, a white crystalline column, through the theatre roof, to eventually become "a stylite, a saint on a column, shouting the regained cry of softness." In doing so she claims: "My modest contribution is to break with our criminal economic selfishness. I will see to it that the investment potential of art is slowly but surely destroyed so that the intrinsic value of art, the healing and spiritual powers of beauty, will have a chance again.".

“I don’t want to romanticise the aggression and violence of a gangster. For me it is important to recognize this lust for life, this energy and vitality, this belief that a gangster could change society through a belief in the anarchy of love.”
- Jan Fabre

 

"The original and beautiful text by Jan Fabre, performed in Italian with English surtitles, is enhanced by the intense interpretation of the excellent Irene Urciuoli who for about an hour covers the entire scene and does not hold back. At the end of the premiere, she was long and deservedly applauded. Worth seeing." -  Carlo Tomeo | Alessandria today

“Simona, the gangster of art … the presence of Irene Urciuoli, an Italian performer who has been in Fabre's company for six years, emerges: delicate and concrete, she stands out for her precision and suppleness, her physical and evocative strength in the struggle for the power of beauty.” - Anna Bandettini | La Repubblica

 

Irene Urciuoli

Irene Urciuoli was born in Italy in 1992. She trained as an actress, studying with gipeto and graduating at Accademia dei Filodrammatici in Milan.

She joined Troubleyn/Jan Fabre in 2018 with the performance 'Belgian Rules/Belgium Rules' and 'Mount Olympus – To glorify the cult of tragedy' in New York in November 2018. More recently she has performed in 'The fluid force of love' (2021). Irene is also performing in the latest Troubleyn/ Jan Fabre production Peak Mytikas (On the top of Mount Olympus) - An 8-hour production (2023). Additionally, Irene is on tour with a specially created solo work by Troubleyn/Jan Fabre, 'Simona, the Gangster of Art', performed in English, French, and Italian.

Irene is also a teacher, part of the Jan Fabre Teaching Group, training new generations of performers.

"Irene Urciuoli is an incredible and talented actress. In this monologue ‘Simona, gangster of art’, she celebrates on stage her multi-personality and schizophrenic state of being what is the essence of the craft of an actor… This performance is a metaphor for art, love and passion... defending the vulnerability of beauty.” - Anna Puricella / La Repubblica
 

The monologue can be performed in English, French and Italian.