A video installation about the spectral representation of all the nouns found in the Italian dictionary, subsequently translated into other languages. Projected one after another in sequence onto a giant screen, the words cause our gaze to lose control, making it impossible, in the blink of an eye, to distinguish each individual term. In this borderline situation created by the frenetic succession of words, some will leave a trace on each spectator’s visual cortex, while others, the vast majority, will be lost.

Il Terzo Reich is the image of an imposed, compulsory form of communication, whose violence is matched by its clamour for equality. Here, a language-machine exhausts entire spheres of reality, since all nouns are equal, mechanically mass-produced like prefabricated buildings within a system of knowledge that leaves no room for escape. All pauses are abolished, occupied. The pause, or the absence of words, becomes a battlefield for words and their military aggression; the nouns from the dictionary, projected onto the screen, are flags planted on conquered land.

The projection will be preceded by a symbolic action in which a performer activates a ceremony in which language is “ignited”. The sound accompanying the installation, composed by Scott Gibbons, will be apodictic.

Romeo Castellucci
Cesena, Italy, 1960. Director, set designer, lighting and costume designer, he is internationally renowned for creating theatre grounded in the totality of the arts and oriented towards an integral form of perception. His theatre explores a form of dramaturgy that overturns the primacy of literature, becoming a complex and complete form of art; a theatre made of extraordinarily rich images expressed through languages as encompassing as music, sculpture, painting and architecture. His productions are regularly invited and commissioned by leading international theatres, opera houses and festivals in more than sixty countries across all continents. Throughout his career, he has received numerous major awards and distinctions. In March 2024, Bérénice, a monologue based on Jean Racine, premiered with Isabelle Huppert as its performer. In 2025, he made his debut at the Venice Biennale with I mangiatori di patate – The Potato Eaters, a performance on the island of Lazzaretto Vecchio, and in Geneva with a version of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, performed by Barbara Hannigan and Jakub Józef Orliński. In 2026, he will appear for the first time at La Scala in Milan with Pelléas et Mélisande, and return to the Salzburg Festival with Saint François d’Assise, while his new theatre production is expected in autumn 2026.

Duration: 50 minutes
Format: video installation
Recommended age: 12+

CONTENT WARNING: The installation features high-frequency images and high-volume audio that are not recommended for people with epilepsy, heart conditions and/or photosensitivity.

ARTISTIC INFORMATION

Direction: Romeo Castellucci
Sound: Scott Gibbons
Choreography: Gloria Dorliguzzo
Performer: Gloria Dorliguzzo
Audiovisual Creation: Luca Mattei in collaboration with Giulia Colla
IT Consultant: Alessandro Colla
Production Management: Benedetta Briglia
Production and Touring: Caterina Soranzo
Technical Direction: Eugenio Resta
Technicians: Isadora Giuntini, Andrea Sanson and Claudio Tortorici
A production by Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio

VIDEO TRAILER ‘IL TERZO REICH’