The first performance of the comedy by Eduardo de Philippo “Italian Marriage” (Philumena Marturano) took place in October 2001.

Italian playwright, actor and director Eduardo de Philippo (1900-1984) was the lattermost great actor-author of Napoli theatre. In Italy he is known simply as EDUARDO. His plays portray the stream of prosy everyday life, that is recreated so authentically, as if it is life itself. The play “Philumena Marturano” was written by him in 1946. The action takes place in Napoli, in the house of a rich and successful businessman Don Domenico Soriano.

The show “Italian Marriage” is the first joint Russian-Italian project in our theatre. Staging director – Paolo Emilio Landi, artistic director – Santi Minieco. Paolo Emilio Landi is a director, professor of the University of Richmond (Virginia, USA) and a TV journalist. He had already staged in Italy, Germany, France, Latvia, USA, Russia. Almost all his shows in Russia are artistically directored by his countryman Santi Minieco. European allure that is typical of his works charms spectators from first sight. Santi Minieco used to work with Eduardo de Philippo. He designed performances in Holland, Island, Mexico, Poland, USA, France and Russia.

The action of the play is set in 1930-1940s. The director of the play Paolo Emilio Landi made the translation of the text “Philumena Marturano” saving the canonical Eduardo de Philippo’s text especially for our theatre. In Philumena’s story Landi saw an embodiment of an eternal conflict between nature and civilization; confrontation between a woman (the implementation of substance itself, connected with mysteries of earth and other first-begotten elements – fire, water, air) and a man, an ageing Don Juan, a follower of those society laws that take no interest in individual’s life and therefore are incapable to solve dramas of a separate person. “Italian Marriage” – can be truly called a show of actors’ success, real unity of the director, designer and actors. This show is brightened not only by a new staging version of staging distinguished playwright’s play, but also by a productive search of expressive theatrical means, conveying the diversity and beauty of dramaturgy.

This show was awarded Russia’s State Prize in Art and literature - the most prestigious prize in Russia in 2003. The theatre participated in the first International theatrical forum “Golden Vityaz” in 2003, where the performance “Italian Marriage” became the festival’s laureate. And in 2006 the show was awarded Grand Prize in the second International theatrical festival “Moscow-area evenings”
Actors:

Filumena Marturano	Vovnenko Elena Vitalievna
Domenico Soriano	Volodarskiy Ilya Borisovich
Alfredo	Osherov Yury Petrovich
Rosalia	Osherova (Lavrentieva) Svetlana Vasilievna
Diana	Samokhina Victoria Anatolievna
Lucia	Zhukova (Shindina) Maria Alexandrovna Krasnova Elena Alexeyevna
Umberto	Divlyatshin Ruslan Sergeevich
Riccardo	Chernyshev Alexey Nickolaevich
Michele	Shchedrin Anton Yurievich
Counsel Noccella	Solovyev Alexander Yakovlevich
Teresina	Lykova Tamara Konstantinovna
The first waiter	Kuzin Artem Evgenievich
The second waiter	Rotachkov Alexey Gennadievich