The director, set designer and actor Giancarlo Cauteruccio died today: born on 2 July 1946 in Marano Marchesato, in the province of Cosenza, he then lived for decades in Florence, after arriving there at the age of 19. Cauteruccio died in Calabria, where he had recently returned.
The career
Trained by art and architecture studies, in 1977 he founded the Il Marchgeni group in Florence, with which he operated until 1982, presenting his performative works in spaces such as the Polytechnic of Turin, the Museum of Modern Art in Rome, the Forte Belvedere in Florence, the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, the Rondò di Bacco of Palazzo Pitti in Florence, the Emperor’s Castle in Prato, the Castello Sant’Elmo of Naples. In 1982 he created the Multimedia Krypton theater research group – later Teatro Studio Krypton, one of the first Italian art theater companies. Over fifty directors of shows scheduled on national and international circuits. He had also organized a large “call to the arts” on Cutro beach in 2023, calling artists and actors from all over Calabria in memory of the Cutro tragedy.
Franz Caruso: one of the most important expressions of culture disappears
“With the passing of Giancarlo Cauteruccio, the city of Cosenza and the whole of Calabria lose one of the most important expressions of the theater scene and culture of our region, capable of being represented by him worthily and on multiple levels throughout the country”.
This was stated by Mayor Franz Caruso who expressed in a statement his deepest condolences for the passing of the Cosenza director and artist Giancarlo Cauteruccio.
“The contribution that Giancarlo gave to the development of culture to which he contributed with an innumerable series of projects, installations and stagings that would be impossible to list was enormous – added Franz Caruso – such was the vastness of his commitment from which he never shirked, investing, indeed, in the theater and in his works, all the energy of which he was capable”.
Franz Caruso also recalled that “even when he experimented with the great classics, be they texts by Beckett or Pirandello, Giancarlo Cauteruccio never gave up his character of recognisability, inherent in his unmistakable style which was that of a profound innovator of the theater scene. His journey, spanning over forty years, at the helm of the “Krypton” company, and for over a quarter of a century as director of the “Teatro Studio” in Scandicci, where he created a solid artistic residence, they marked an era, before he returned to his Calabria, to be precise to Sibari, cradle of Magna Graecia, where he, unfortunately, took his last breath”.
Mayor Franz Caruso also recalled one of the last projects to which Giancarlo Cauteruccio had given impetus, in March last year, and on which he had spent himself without saving energy: the celebrations for the hundredth anniversary of the writer Saverio Strati (the anniversary fell in 2024) and for the tenth anniversary of the death of the Cosenza playwright Vincenzo Ziccarelli. “For the occasion – Franz Caruso recalled – he had dusted off one of his stagings from a few years earlier, that “Return of the soldier”, which was Strati’s only theatrical text, written together with Vincenzo Ziccarelli. The show had made its national premiere in Scandicci, which in the meantime had become the adopted city of the writer from Sant’Agata del Bianco, Saverio Strati and then arrived in Calabria to develop its path in all the theaters of the capital cities. The “regional premiere” was held at the Rendano in Cosenza with the patronage of our municipal administration – Mayor Franz Caruso also recalled – concluded the mayor – he will be missed by the whole city, by those who appreciated his artistic and human qualities and by those who recognized his theatrical career as worthy of attention and great consideration”. Franz Caruso then addressed, on behalf of the entire municipal administration, a message to Giancarlo Cauteruccio’s partner, Anna Giusi Lufrano and to all the family members, in particular to his brother Fulvio, a highly appreciated actor, with the feelings of the most affectionate closeness.
Giani: a piece of history is gone
«With the passing of Giancarlo Cauteruccio, a piece of Tuscany’s history is gone. With him, Calabrian by birth, but Tuscan by adoption, we lose a protagonist of theatrical experimentation and cultural activity in our region. I think of what he did in Florence, using truly iconic places as stages, from Forte Belvedere and Palazzo Pitti, but also artistic emergencies from other Tuscan cities.” This is how the president of Tuscany Eugenio Giani remembers Giancarlo Cauteruccio, the theater director, also set designer and actor, who died today in his native Calabria after having designed and worked in Tuscany for many years. «
I like to remember – continues Giani – his unquenchable and inexhaustible vocation to create and experiment, as well as his commitment to the Teatro Studio of Scandicci, which he considered as a real son. Cauteruccio contributed to the cultural growth of both Tuscan and national theater with his innovative ideas and his equally innovative artistic directions. It is a serious loss for our artistic and cultural heritage.” The president then expressed his deepest condolences to the artist’s family.