Antonio Panzuto Set Designer

Metamorphosis and marvel are the first afflatuses that envelop the spectator in their essence as they enter the theatrical universe of Antonio Panzuto. A singular figure on the contemporary performing arts scene, he eludes traditional classifications and rigid labelling. He is a painter, a sculptor, a set designer, a performer, a director, a poet of the stage who moves poised between an aesthetic path and a high degree of stage craftsmanship. Around him hovers that seductive atmosphere of the ancient workshops, febrile and knowledgeable, where artists were once trained and who had unquestionable faith in the infinite possibilities that art has of interweaving the many languages of which it is comprised.

The stage sets created by Panzuto for theatre for human performers are the result of research into architectural space on the one hand and a passion for painting on the other. The result is volumetric environments in which strongly pictorial atmospheres with an abstract character come to life, with often overt references to the artists he loves and to cinema. The sets contribute to the composition as visual dramaturgies that do not describe the text but comment on or emphasise the dramaturgical word, accompanying the unfolding of the story. Over time, collaboration with different directors has allowed Panzuto to experiment with various solutions that can be grouped according to the construction criteria adopted or borrowing from other arts. The environments he creates, however, all constantly revolve around the two concepts of volume and abstract figuration, which are the core principles of his poetics of the stage. 

(Marzia Maino/ She teaches Theory and History of Scenography at the University of Padua. )