The 2026 Day is dedicated to
Alberto Fortuzzi
Alberto Fortuzzi
Trained as an actor at the school of Alessandro Fersen in Rome. His professional activity began in 1975 at the Teatro Stabile in Bolzano.
After a season at the Teatro Stabile he meets Kate Duck in Rome, fresh from the experience of the Fools of Amsterdam with Carlos Trafic and Jango Edwards, with whom he discovers the wonderful way of the Clown.
In 1979 he left for Paris where he was lucky enough to attend the school of Jacques Lecoq, at that time the best clown teacher in the world.
In 1982 / 83 he went on stage in various productions with the Clown Theater du Malentendu company. In 1985, after having collaborated with various French companies, he was lucky enough to have Dario Fo himself as a teacher.
Having moved on to the Commedia dell’Arte, he played the role of Harlequin in Goldoni’s “Servant of Two Masters” for several years. Path that ends in 2000 with the staging of the same comedy where Arlecchino (played once again by himself) leaves the traditional half mask for the Clown nose.
In the following years, thanks to a collaboration with the Berlin Conservatory “Hanns Eisler” he dedicated himself to opera direction: Falstaff (Verdi), Don Giovanni (Mozart) and Arianna a Nasso (Richard Strauss) are the crowning of a dream in the drawer.
After the years of the conservatory he returned to the stage in 2008 with “Francesco, giullare di Dio” by Dario Fo, Theater Rotwelsch Reutlingen production. Very long tour in Germany with more than 100 performances.
2009-2014 Again as director: “George Dandin” by Molière, “Candide” by Voltaire, and “Mandragola” by Machiavelli, prod. Monbijou Theater Berlin.
Since 2016 he has been working on social theater projects in the regions of former East Germany. In these workshops he brings Clown techniques to unemployed young people to give them back that creativity, which in more than one case has allowed them to take back their lives.
In memory of Alberto Fortuzzi
Testimonials
-
TonyNardi
The degree to which Alberto influenced the way I think, work, and live is difficult to measure. Some people enter our lives without needing to stand in front of us for their presence to be felt, to have a daily impact on us. Alberto was like that for me.
In a country (Canada) saturated with clichés about certain acting methodologies (particularly Commedia dell’Arte), Alberto arrived at exactly the right moment. It all happened by chance, or at least that’s how I like to think of it. But was it really a coincidence? I have always regarded that trip to Rome in 1985 as a fundamental turning point.
I was not searching for a master. I was searching for something I didn’t yet know how to name. Alberto offered no easy answers, no ready-made formulas. What he offered instead was a rigorous presence, a sharp intelligence, and a profound respect for art and for the human being who practices it.
What made Alberto unique was not only his encyclopedic knowledge of Commedia dell’Arte, but his ability to make it alive, necessary, contemporary. It was never theatrical archaeology. It was a living language, a demanding discipline, a path toward knowledge.
Alberto did not teach characters. He taught inner structures. He taught the body as a site of thought, gesture as an ethical act, the mask as an instrument of truth. He did not seek imitation, but transformation.
He had his own way of observing. He could appear severe, at times impenetrable, but behind that gaze there was a subtle irony and a rare generosity. He never told you what to do. He placed you in a position where you could discover for yourself what was not working.
Many speak of method. Alberto spoke of responsibility. Responsibility toward the body, toward the stage, toward the audience, toward tradition, and above all, toward oneself. Working with him meant accepting the challenge of questioning oneself, without shortcuts.
Even today I notice how his voice continues to resonate in my daily work. In a pause. In an apparently minimal choice. In a silence. Not as a dogma, but as an open question.
It is difficult to accept that he is no longer here. Too soon.
(April 22, 2025)
Video
"George Dandin" von Molière, Bearbeitung Alberto Fortuzzi und Winni Victor