Rosario Palazzolo: "What does It mean to be an actor? Not being one"

Rosario Palazzolo is a writer, actor, and theatre director from Palermo. He began his acting career studying with Pippo Spicuzza and later attended a specialized school for theatre direction with Umberto Cantone, Pippo Spicuzza, Pietro Seffer, and Antonio Raffaele Addamo. In the early 2000s, he founded the Compagnia del Tratto with his colleague Anton Giulio Pandolfo, and in 2012, he established Teatrino Controverso with actress Delia Calò. Palazzolo made his debut in playwriting in 2005 with “Uomor”. Since 2023, he has been teaching direction at the School of Acting and Stage Professions of the Teatro Biondo in Palermo. Sicilian Secrets interviewed him.

Q: How did your artistic journey in theatre and writing begin?

A: It started in a tumultuous way, like the sword in the stone, except it didn’t come out. I had to uproot the entire forest.

Q: Since 2023, you have been teaching direction at the School of Teatro Biondo in Palermo. What can you tell us about this recent experience?

A: It’s a gift that I try to reciprocate. Because guiding young people towards failure, imagining all the disappointments, the betrayals, the poverty, and still convincing them that they are the ones to push the boundaries, to find the wonder, to create the necessary landscapes, is truly an incredible effort. It is also a privilege and a responsibility. And so, I would say that I don’t really teach directing. I teach Palazzolo, which means attempting to invent reality.

Q: You are from Palermo. How do your origins and the territory influence your work?

A: I am from Palermo, that’s true, but not with too much commitment.

Q: Is there a place in Sicily that serves as a source of inspiration for your work?

A: My home, or more specifically, my studio. There’s nothing romantic about it; I’m mostly methodical, and in my studio, I don’t lose things, I don’t get distracted, and I have all the trivialities within reach.

Q: What are your future projects in both theatre and writing?

A: In October, my new play “Tiger Dad” will debut, produced by Ama Factory and Cattivi Maestri Teatro, featuring my friend and collaborator Salvatore Nocera, along with my preferred team: Angelo Grasso, Mela Dell’Erba, Gianluca Misiti, and Gabriele Gugliara. Then, in April, the Teatro Biondo will produce my play “Con tutto il mio cuore rimasto”, which will finally see the directorial debut of my right-hand man – and sometimes even left-hand man – Angelo Grasso.

Q: Professionally speaking, what is the wish of Rosario Palazzolo that has yet to be fulfilled?

A: I rarely think in terms of wishes, but rather in terms of possibilities.

Q: Is there a theatre or, more generally, a place in Sicily where you would like to perform one of your works?

A: Somewhere the theatre truly holds social value, where the politics of beauty prevail over the politics of exchange, where the quality of thought surpasses that of an assessor or even a president, where it’s possible to build imaginings without being forced to define scenarios, where the end of a performance is decided by the performance itself. And certainly, that place is not Sicily. Nor is it Italy. Nor is it the world.