Body of State offers a translation of Marco Baliani's acclaimed dramatic
monologue, Corpo di stato, concerning the 1978 kidnapping and
assassination of Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by the terrorist Red
Brigades. Corpo di stato was commissioned by Italian state television in
1998 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the "Moro Affair."
Baliani's monologue, refracted through the prism of the intervening
twenty years, consists of a merciless self-examination, alternately
anguished and affectionate, in an effort to confront his generation's
complicity in the dissolution of Italian politics in the wake of the
national trauma of Moro's murder. Through over a hundred performances
since its 1998 debut, the piece has evolved in response to the forceful
reactions of Italian audiences. The first draft of this English
translation offered the supertitles for performances in Baliani's 2009
U.S. tour, and was subsequently expanded to reflect the most recent
version of the text. This unique volume features a translation of the
dramatic monologue, embedding it in a context that richly documents the
events. The volume includes a preface by translator and performance
studies scholar Ron Jenkins, a critical introduction, Baliani's thoughts
about the 1998 production for Italian television, an interview with
Baliani and his artistic collaborator, Maria Maglietta, and the
afterword they wrote in light of the 2009 tour. In addition, Body of
State provides precious documentation in the form of reviews,
contributed by scholars, students, and spectators, of Baliani's 2009
North American tour. A celebrated author and performer, Marco Baliani is
well known as one of the originators of the "theater of narration."
Starting in 1978, his first performances grew directly from his
engagement in radical politics. In 1989 he adapted Heinrich von Kleist's
novella, Kohlhaas (1989), into a riveting monologue which he performed
on a bare stage, sitting on a chair for ninety minutes. Kohlhaas marked
his passage to a "pure" theater of narration and is today a classic of
the genre. Since Kohlhaas, Baliani has shown interest in social,
political, and literary themes. Recurring in his work are the
psychological and ethical tensions that arise when the search for
justice clashes with power or social injustice.
