Nunzia Antonino - Insight Lucrezia

The phantasmal scene evokes the wedding celebration of Lucrezia Borgia with Alfonso D’Este in Ferrara. The preparation, the ritual, and the interactions with the guests facilitate an exploration of her life. The setting is characterized by the presence of a throne that also suggests the function of a confessional, yet upon a stage, it evidently evokes the Theater, with an orchestra of musicians attached to complete the representation of what has already occurred. The music does not "accompany"; it interacts and sometimes interferes: it is manifested in the presence of musicians in the "pit," yet it also resides within Lucrezia, existing inside her. Lucrezia, condemned to play a part, is a pawn of war but also an unstoppable soldier in politics: her entire life as a woman, daughter, wife, lover, and "procreating" mother presses her into a feminine destiny that feels too tight but from which she cannot escape. Memories and relationships flow in her discourse with the ghosts of the evening. Inside Lucrezia, voices, omens, and images of future events stir: the encounter with the competitive sister-in-law Isabella, Marchioness of Mantua, her previous husbands: Giovanni da Pesaro and Alonso of Bisceglie, the overwhelming presence of her father, Pope Alexander VI, and of Valentino, her brother Cesare Borgia. The celebration unfolds amidst infinite courses and theatrical performances. From childhood to maturity, Lucrezia's obsessions flow: the killing of her brother Juan, forced and cherished relationships, children, lost and born. "Pregnancies" destined for failure. The dress worn to face it soon makes its weight felt: that unbearable weight of power she both suffers and exercises in a desperate attempt to shake off prejudice or simply the guilt of being herself.
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