"The Holiday Trilogy" by Carlo Goldoni: A Theatrical Exploration of the Sacred and the Profane at the Theater in Josefstadt, Vienna

Essay by Simona Noja-Nebyla

On November 26, 2024, I attended Carlo Goldoni's Trilogia della villeggiatura (The Holiday Trilogy) at the Theater in Josefstadt, Vienna. This production provided a profound opportunity to reconnect with the theater as a space of transformative encounters, which can retrospectively be understood as sacred on multiple levels.

The Theater in Josefstadt, situated in Vienna's 8th district, was originally constructed in 1788 as a modest neighborhood theater. It was later redesigned in 1822 by architect Joseph Kornhäusel in the Biedermeier style, characterized by simplicity and elegance. In 1924, under the direction of Max Reinhardt, the theater underwent significant renovation by architect Carl Witzmann, who drew inspiration from the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. This renovation introduced neoclassical and Baroque influences, further enhancing the theater's aesthetic appeal.

While familiar with the preparation of the artistic act on stage and the creative process it entails, I was intrigued by the deliberate framing of the audience's role in this production. The spectator, much like the actor, undergoes a process of transformation—a necessary purification from the mundane, particularly relevant in today’s politically charged climate. This purification begins as one ascends the narrow staircases and navigates the low-ceilinged corridors of the theater, admiring the intricate designs of the box doors and feeling the tactile allure of the red velvet seating. Such sensory experiences create a liminal space, where one is drawn towards either the sacred or the profane.

As noted by Mircea Eliade, the sacred does not represent a homogeneous space but rather one punctuated by openings that allow for the manifestation of the sacred. Eliade posits that the homo religiosus "always believes in the existence of an absolute reality, the sacred, which transcends this world but manifests within it, sanctifying and making it real" (The Sacred and the Profane). Similarly, the homo creator, whether understood as homo faber (the artisan) or homo ludens (the playful being), requires a space where their creative essence can take root and bear fruit.

Recent advances in neuroscience corroborate the existence of a shared cognitive space between artist and audience—a dynamic interplay facilitated by mirror neurons. These neurons serve as intermediaries, creating a symbiotic relationship between action and observation, actor and spectator, and, by extension, the sacred and the profane. The "profane," in this context, denotes that which remains unexplored or unknown.

Goldoni's fictional Montemare—a symbol of the Venetian aristocracy's 18th-century desire to escape the urban environment for the rural idyll—becomes the site of this transformative journey. The trilogy, comprising Le smanie per la villeggiatura (The Fever of Vacation), Le avventure della villeggiatura (The Adventures of Vacation), and Il ritorno dalla villeggiatura (The Return from Vacation), marks a departure from the conventional masks of commedia dell'arte. While Goldoni retains the essence of character-driven storytelling, he deepens the psychological complexity of his figures.

Psychological Archetypes and Their Commedia dell'arte Parallels

1. Giacinta (Juliette Larat): An intelligent and independent young woman grappling with societal and familial pressures regarding marriage and social status, Giacinta recalls Isabella from commedia dell'arte, a character known for her beauty and wit.

2. Leonardo (Claudius von Stolzmann): A young aristocrat obsessed with appearances and social standing, Leonardo mirrors Flavio, the idealistic yet often naive lover.

3. Guglielmo (Alexander Absenger): Leonardo's rival, embroiled in romantic and social intrigues, Guglielmo aligns with Leandro, another archetype of the lover, often depicted as Flavio’s competitor.

4. Filippo (Marcus Bluhm): Giacinta's father, preoccupied with family reputation and advantageous matrimonial alliances, evokes Pantalone, the avaricious patriarch of commedia dell'arte.

5. Brigida (Katharina Klar): Giacinta’s practical and witty maid, Brigida parallels Colombina, the clever and loyal servant.

Themes of Transformation and Reflection

Goldoni’s characters, driven by their obsession with a summer retreat in Montemare—a vacation that symbolizes social prestige and the fulfillment of latent desires—undergo significant transformation throughout their journey. This process invites the audience to reflect on their own hidden aspirations. Do we, too, harbor a "Montemare" within ourselves? What are the social and economic consequences of striving to maintain appearances and social status? How do societal and familial pressures influence individual choices, particularly regarding relationships and marriage? What is the impact of escapism on interpersonal dynamics and personal identity?

The Staging: A Journey Through Purgatory

Director Janusz Kica and set designer Karin Fritz frame the trilogy as a journey akin to Dante’s Divine Comedy. The audience is metaphorically guided through seven terraces of Purgatory, faced with the choice of ascending to the paradisiacal or descending into infernal realms. Despite the minimalist staging of Goldoni’s Venetian terraces, the audience is invited to navigate these levels imaginatively, in accordance with their complicity in the theatrical act. The decision to pursue the sacred or the profane remains an open and deeply personal choice.

This production masterfully bridges the gap between Goldoni’s 18th-century context and contemporary questions of identity, societal expectation, and the transformative potential of art. Through its interplay of the sacred and the profane, it reaffirms theater's enduring power to illuminate and elevate.

"Trilogia vacanței la țară" de Carlo Goldoni: o călătorie teatrală între sacru și profan la Teatrul din Josefstadt, Viena

Eseu de Simona Noja-Nebyla

"Trilogia despre vacanța la țară" ("Trilogia della villeggiatura") de Carlo Goldoni, vizionată ieri, 26.11.2024 la Teatrul din Josefstadt, Viena, mi-a oferit șansa unei reîntâlniri cu teatrul ca loc al întâlnirilor magice, care, retrospectiv, pot fi considerate la mai multe niveluri, chiar sacre.

Teatrul din Josefstadt, situat în districtul 8 din Viena, a fost inițial construit în 1788 ca o structură simplă, specifică teatrelor de cartier ale acelei perioade. În 1822, arhitectul Joseph Kornhäusel a reconstruit teatrul, integrând elemente ale stilului Biedermeier, caracterizat prin simplitate și eleganță. În 1924, sub conducerea lui Max Reinhardt, teatrul a fost renovat de arhitectul Carl Witzmann, inspirându-se din designul Teatro La Fenice din Veneția, adăugând astfel influențe ale stilului neoclasic și baroc.

Obișnuită cu pregătirea actului artistic în sine, desfășurat pe scenă, familiară cu ceea ce ține de actul de creație sau de interpretare, am fost oarecum luată pe nepregătite de așezarea în cadru a publicului, de actul de intrare în rol al spectatorului. Fiindcă, da, și spectatorul trece printr-un proces de transformare, de purificare de cotidian (cu atât mai necesar cu cât acesta este unul politic, cum este cel din aceste zile, de alegere de președinți). Și, începând să înțeleg cum să-mi intru în rolul de spectator, am pășit atent pe scările înguste, prin coridoarele cu plafon coborât, admirând fiecare ușă de lojă cu desenul ei, simțind proximitatea spectatorilor, atingând catifeaua roșie a lojei, îmbietoare la perceperi senzuale... care te trimit fie spre sacru, fie spre profan.

Știm de la Eliade (dacă nu și de dinainte) că sacrul nu înseamnă pentru omul religios un spațiu omogen, ci dimpotrivă, unul cu goluri, sau mai degrabă cu deschideri mirabolante, în care sacrul să se poată manifesta. Homo religiosus "crede întotdeauna în existența unei realități absolute, sacrul, care transcende această lume, dar care se manifestă în ea și care o sfințește și o face reală" (Eliade, "Sacrul și profanul"). La fel ca homo religiosus, are nevoie și homo creator, fie că este homo faber (omul meșteșugar), fie că este homo ludens (omul care se joacă), de un spațiu în care propria sacralitate să prindă rădăcini și, eventual, să dea rod.

Mai știm, de asemenea, din neuroștiințele secolului XXI, de existența unui spațiu comun între artist și public, un spațiu al întâlnirii dinamice dintre mișcarea actorului și observarea spectatorului, un spațiu în care personajele principale devin neuronii-oglindă, care, într-un fel sau altul, preiau rolul mesagerilor divini. Ei țes o comuniune simbiotică între acțiune și observație, între actori și public, între sacru și profan (profanul însemnând în acest caz încă necunoaștere).

Odată deschis drumul spre nou, spre o posibilă cunoaștere, (de ce nu o posibilă sacralitate?), călătoria spre Montemare - locul fictiv unde personajele lui Goldoni vor să își petreacă vacanța de vară, simbol al dorinței aristocrației venețiene din secolul al XVIII-lea de a evada din viața cotidiană și de a se relaxa în mediul rural - poate începe.

În "Trilogia vacanței la țară" ("Trilogia della villeggiatura"), care include piesele "Le smanie per la villeggiatura" ("Febra vacanței"), "Le avventure della villeggiatura" ("Aventurile vacanței") și "Il ritorno dalla villeggiatura" ("Întoarcerea din vacanță"), Goldoni lasă măștile commediei dell'arte să cadă, păstrând însă mesajul caracterelor și aprofundându-le caracteristicile psihologice.

Giacinta, (interpretată de Juliette Larat), o tânără inteligentă și independentă, care se confruntă cu presiunile sociale și familiale legate de căsătorie și statut social, poate fi comparată cu Isabella, personajul feminin principal din commedia dell'arte, cunoscută pentru frumusețea și inteligența sa.

Leonardo, (interpretat de Claudius von Stolzmann), un tânăr din înalta societate, preocupat de aparențe și de menținerea unui statut social ridicat, adesea prin cheltuieli extravagante, reflectă trăsături ale lui Flavio, tânărul îndrăgostit și adesea naiv.

Guglielmo, (interpretat de Alexander Absenger), un alt tânăr din cercurile înalte, rival al lui Leonardo, implicat în intrigile amoroase și sociale ale grupului, poate fi asociat cu Leandro, un alt tip de îndrăgostit din commedia dell'arte, adesea rival al lui Flavio.

Filippo, (interpretat de Marcus Bluhm), tatăl Giacintei, preocupat de reputația familiei și de aranjamentele matrimoniale avantajoase, ne amintește de Pantalone, bătrânul avar și preocupat de statutul social.

Brigida, (interpretată de Katharina Klar,), servitoarea Giacintei, oferă perspective practice și comentarii asupra evenimentelor, fiind similară cu Colombina, servitoarea isteață și loială din commedia dell'arte.

Obsedate de ideea de a merge în vacanță la Montemare, într-o escapadă estivală considerată un simbol al statutului social și un posibil mod de împlinire a dorințelor ascunse, personajele lui Goldoni se transformă de-a lungul vacanței și, în același timp, ne transformă și pe noi. Avem și noi în adâncul sufletului un Montemare încă ascuns? Există consecințe (sociale și economice) ale dorinței de a menține aparențele și statutul social? Cum influențează presiunile sociale și familiale alegerile individuale, în special în ceea ce privește căsătoria și relațiile personale? Care este impactul dorinței de evadare din cotidian asupra relațiilor interpersonale și asupra identității individuale?

În spiritul "Divinei Comedii" a lui Dante, regizorul Janusz Kica și scenografa Karin Fritz ne ajută să traversăm cele șapte terase ale Purgatoriului, lăsându-ne opțiunea de a accede în cerurile Paradisului sau de a cădea în cercurile Infernului. Chiar dacă terasele venețiene ale lui Goldoni sunt redate minimalist, le putem urca (sau coborî) imaginar la o magnitudine corespunzătoare complicității noastre de spectatori cu actul actoricesc, în care opțiunea spre sacru sau spre profan ne rămâne mereu la liberă alegere.

Embrace Your Future: Why the EBGP World Audition in Vienna is a must for young dancers

As a young dancer, your journey is filled with countless hours of practice, unwavering dedication, and a burning passion for the art form you love. But what if you could take your aspirations to the next level? What if you could gain the exposure needed to turn your dreams into reality? This February 5-7, 2025, in the vibrant city of Vienna, Austria, the EBGP World Audition offers you the perfect platform to do just that.

Experience That Transforms

Participating in the EBGP World Audition is more than just an audition—it's an experience that will shape your future. For three days, you'll immerse yourself in an environment that pushes your boundaries, challenges your limits, and allows you to grow as an artist. You'll be performing on stage, not once but twice, in front of an elite panel of directors from renowned ballet and contemporary dance companies. This unique opportunity offers you invaluable skill development and a real taste of what it means to be a professional dancer.

Networking and Confidence Boost

One of the greatest aspects of the EBGP World Audition is the chance to engage in networking with industry professionals and fellow dancers. These connections could become pivotal in your career, opening doors you never knew existed. Performing in front of such an esteemed audience will also give you a confidence boost like no other, reinforcing your belief in your abilities and preparing you for the challenges ahead.

Feedback That Fuels Growth

Feedback is a critical component of any dancer's journey, and at the EBGP World Audition, you’ll receive multi-layered feedback that will help you refine your technique and artistry. From personalized written notes from directors to peer feedback and collective insights during Q&A sessions, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of where you excel and where you can improve. This feedback isn't just about the present—it's a guide that will fuel your future opportunities and growth.

Building Your Portfolio and Advancing Your Career

Every performance, every audition is a step towards building a robust portfolio that showcases your talent. The EBGP World Audition is a golden opportunity to add to that portfolio, with the potential to secure a coveted position in one of the esteemed companies represented. Such an achievement not only marks significant career advancement but also signals your arrival on the global dance stage, earning you industry recognition that can propel you forward.

Personal Growth and Artistic Development

Beyond the tangible rewards, the EBGP World Audition is a platform for personal growth. It tests your self-discipline, creativity, and resilience—all essential qualities for any dancer aiming to make it to the top. Facing new challenges in a high-pressure environment will sharpen your skills and deepen your understanding of what it takes to succeed in the competitive world of dance.

Seize the Challenge

The path to success is rarely straightforward, and the EBGP World Audition is designed to be a challenge that brings out the best in you. It's an opportunity to push beyond your limits, explore new dimensions of your artistry, and prove to yourself and others that you have what it takes to make it in this demanding field.

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Remembering Béla Károlyi or about competitive gymnastics and the understanding of self-transcendence

In the late autumn of 1977, during a national gymnastics competition, the coach of Romania's Olympic Gymnastics Team, none other than Béla Károlyi, the trainer of Nadia Comăneci, noticed me during the floor routine competition. Forgetting the choreography, I improvised the entire performance. I was even more surprised to learn that only two gymnasts were selected from the competition to join the Olympic team in Onești, and one of them was me. I was 9 years old.

The two-week training camp in Oradea in January 1978 with the Olympic team, from which Nadia Comăneci had since departed, was followed by a trip to Bucharest, a training stint in Onești, and the team’s transition to the new specialized training center in Deva, Transylvania. These were my first encounters with elite performance.

We had two training sessions daily: 8–11 a.m. and 5–8 p.m. In between, we had lunch and school. I believe there were no more than 10 of us gymnasts training with Béla Károlyi, his wife Márta Károlyi, and the dance instructor, Geza Pozsar. We also had a specialized doctor and a governess. My friend was Lelia Cristina Itu, a gymnast older than me, also from Cluj.

For those outside competitive sports, training six hours a day, weighing yourself weekly, and dedicating all your time to what you believe in might seem like sacrifice. For me, as a child, it was passion and joy—a state of mind I was fortunate to experience later as an adult.

Of course, there weren’t only happy moments. One afternoon, I was supposed to execute a complicated beam jump—Márta Károlyi’s favorite apparatus—and admitted I was afraid. She told me to do squats instead of the exercise. I did. I reached 1,000 repetitions before she allowed me to stop. Strangely, I didn’t have any muscle soreness afterward. It was only during a phone call with my parents, when I told them this news casually, that they both panicked. They still saw me as fragile. I suspected something might have been slightly exaggerated, but I wasn’t sure if it was for better or worse.

I chose to believe it was for the better. I thought the experience would serve me someday. I eagerly awaited the future.

My journey with the Olympic team ended before the Olympics. Besides my parents' concern about my fragility, there was another reason tied to their belief that general education should take precedence in a child’s upbringing. From their perspective, things weren’t quite right. In the Olympic team, we ranged from fourth to twelfth grade, and classes were held in the same space, at the same time, with the same teachers. It was clear that gymnastics performance took precedence over intellectual performance. The prospect of having a daughter who was more or less illiterate did not fit into the Noja family’s plans.

Was it for the better? Was it for the worse?

I was 10 years old. After a quarantine due to measles, during which my maternal grandmother came from Mănăstireni to Deva’s dormitory to care for me, my fate was sealed. At the beginning of the summer of 1978, I was withdrawn from the Olympic gymnastics team with my tacit agreement. Yet deep down, I felt that any chance of becoming famous—after all, I wanted to be the next Nadia Comăneci—was gone. If I wouldn’t achieve fame in gymnastics, where would destiny take me?

Perhaps that’s when the idea of becoming a librarian was born. As a 10-year-old who loved to read, I viewed librarians as the privileged ones, close to wisdom… able to touch it anytime. To meditate in the quiet of a library, live near books, far from the world’s chaos, freely choose inspiring texts, and ignore "unfriendly" ones were then, and remain to this day, profound desires.

My contact with the Olympic team was my first step toward extreme performance. Experiencing firsthand the wonders of the human body, in a stimulating environment with competent coaches and doctors, alongside other gymnasts with dreams like mine, I understood that anything was possible.

There and then, I learned that through hard work, any obstacle can be overcome.

The fact that all three coaches (Béla, Márta, and Geza) were in the gym every day for six hours, without a trace of fatigue or boredom, and that the team doctor chose to operate on hospital patients in his free time to save lives, became benchmarks of high moral and educational standards. These distant memories came vividly to mind when I became a teacher and mentor myself. They became guiding lights as I theorized my own experiences. Even though being a ballerina differs from being a gymnast, the human pedagogical models I had in childhood profoundly influenced me. Decades later, I am deeply grateful to all the sports coaches who, consciously or not, shaped my character and my passion for movement.

Through sports, I came to understand Protagoras' dictum: "Man is the measure of all things."

Gymnastics gave me physical endurance, benefiting my career as a ballerina, and reinforced my belief that performance begins when you compete with yourself, and that life's obstacles are merely official measures of a continuous competition with oneself.

Time proved me right. Nine years later, in 1987, during my debut as "Kitri" in the ballet Don Quixote, the tempo of the fouettés in the third act was so slow that, instead of 32, I had to perform 64 fouettés. With the experience of doing 1,000 uninterrupted squats, spinning on one leg 64 times was merely an unfriendly challenge. My choice nine years earlier not to play the victim had been inspired.

Performance begins the moment you accept your destiny and decide—without knowing exactly what will come next.

This belief was confirmed during the same performance when the conductor made clumsy decisions. In the third act, after my variation was poorly conducted, the most spectacular part, the fouetté coda, was grandly botched. My second coda, meant to be the apotheosis of a fiery pas de deux, started as an adagio instead of an allegro. I was 19, debuting in a demanding role I had prepared for months, in a packed National Opera House in Cluj-Napoca. I had already furiously launched into a series of pique turns…

There are moments in life where everything is decided on a single card. As Bainbridge Cohen, founder of Body-Mind Centering, said, the difference between being and not being is as thin as a membrane. Space becomes an open field, weightless; time breaks free from rhythm, becoming timeless.

It is the moment when reason exhausts itself, and the present becomes pure emotion—a timeless, spaceless field.

At that moment, I like to think my movement became a word. A word freed from matter, a word that bore its meaning outward (Ion Noja). From the depths of my soul, in the middle of my performance, I shouted: TEMPO! It was entirely unexpected. The conductor heard it, the orchestra heard it, the entire audience heard it, and they erupted into applause. I finished the performance enthusiastically… freed from prejudice, seeking truth, and beginning to understand my artistic purpose. Movement, too, could become a word. Was it a beginning? An end? Was it for the better? Or the worse?