If the return of Marco Barricelli to the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) wasn’t enough to excite the adoring audiences of San Francisco playgoers, the actor/director is making his much-anticipated debut with material that shares some of the dark, acerbic wit that won him so much acclaim alongside Olympia Dukakis in Vigil.
This time around, there will be more than two characters, however, as Barricelli and cast work through the messy dynamics of an Italian family struggling to survive in the aftermath of World War II. In Barricelli’s own words, Napoli! is a “heart-wrenching” and “fraught” affair that goes much deeper than financial struggles to probe at “what things really cost.”
Eduardo De Filippo, who often used his extensive theater and film work to comment on the shifting family structure and economic challenges of his fellow Neapolitans, was born in 1900, “out of wedlock and into the theatre,” as The Arts Desk describes it. He began acting in early childhood; staged his first solo production at the age of 20; formed a theater company with his siblings in his early thirties; and was starring alongside Sophia Loren in L’oro di Napoli in his fifties.
In 1973, a production of De Filippo’s Sabato, Domenica e Lunedì, with Lawrence Olivier heading the cast, resulted in an award-winning translation. The original script for the new ACT run is called Napoli Milionaria in Italian, and was first presented in 1950 but remade for TV as recently as 2011. By the time De Filippo died in 1985, he had been named Lifetime Senator of the Italian Republic, and was nothing short of a national treasure and icon.
Yet his work rarely washes ashore in America, even at a time when the economic and political climate in this country seems ripe for the type of emotional and moral exploration De Filippo was so attracted to. And no one seems more aware of the responsibility in introducing De Filippo’s work to San Francisco than Barricelli, who plays lead Gennaro alongside Seana McKenna’s Amalia. As Barricelli commented, “I hope the Italians come out in droves because they won’t get to see De Filippo otherwise.” Interestingly enough, in addition to San Franciscans, the play has caught the attention of the Italian ambassador, who will be visiting the city in mid February and may attend a special preview performance.
Barricelli is also conscious of the depth the piece requires, and explained that he and the cast were still finding their footing with the script: “I’m hyperaware that I don’t want it to be cliché—insert Danny Zuko/Tony Soprano imitations here—(this play) lives somewhere else.” And Barricelli should know. Not only does he hail from a 100-percent Italian family that spoke the language at home and lived in Italy as a child, his longtime partner Beatrice Basso co-translated Napoli! as it will be presented at the ACT. “(Napoli!) is not like American drama,” he says, “Everything doesn’t tie up nicely. It leaves us with questions at the end, not answers.”
Barricelli has recently moved back to San Francisco after time on the East Coast—he’s originally from Boston—and several years spent as the artistic director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz. He and Beatrice (a name that is infinitely more beautiful when pronounced the Italian way, particularly in Barricelli’s golden baritone), have a two-year-old son together, Vittorio.
While Marco and family enjoy being back in California and he already has plans for a play at San Jose Repertory Theatre after Napoli! wraps, he confesses he doesn’t go out or frequent restaurants like he did during his early days at the ACT. He recalls an old fondness for North Beach, however, and immediately echoes the sentiments of so many community members and organizations fighting to revitalize and preserve the Italian stronghold of the city: “It’s gotten smaller and smaller; I wish it were bigger and more robust. (It’s) not celebrated enough.”
Although there is no doubt that Barricelli’s first love will always be the stage, “My heart is in doing these plays,” he says, he still maintains interest in returning to television and film where, let’s face it, the money is better. His most recent recurring series appearance was The Book of Daniel with Aidan Quinn and Ellen Burstyn. The roles might be tougher to come by in this arena, but surely not because, as Barricelli modestly puts it, “I’m not a pretty boy—I’m not a face people want to see in their living room.”
In the meantime, he’ll surely be delighting audiences with that round, warm, bottom-of-a-barrel stage voice that ACT-goers have come to know so well. Mr. Barricelli, in bocca al lupo and break a leg!
For more information, www.tickets.act-sf.org
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