On the eve of the premiere of Mirandolina, a co-production between Teatro Stabile del Veneto, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and the Croatian National Theatre of Rijeka, Marina Carr discusses her rewriting of Carlo Goldoni’s La locandiera, a reflection on gender-based violence, and new perspectives on femininity and masculinity in contemporary European theatre.
The Olympic Games, a symbol of encounter among nations from around the world, and the traditions and roots of the land that hosts them: from this “glocal” fusion emerges the idea of revisiting Carlo Goldoni, the father of Venetian theatre, and activating a process of contemporary transformation of La locandiera. The result, soon to be unveiled, is Mirandolina, an international co-production by Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale, the Abbey Theatre – National Theatre of Ireland, and the Croatian National Theatre of Rijeka – HNK Rijeka. The new text, set in the present day, has been entrusted to one of the most powerful and original voices in contemporary European theatre: the Irish playwright Marina Carr. In a remarkable synthesis of traditional elements and features drawn from the classical canon, Carr addresses themes such as abandonment, betrayal, revenge, marginalisation, and violence, through a strikingly contemporary lens. The connections between different eras – the eighteenth-century world of Goldoni and the present – and cultures – the Italian and the Irish – create further layers and interpretative keys within an intense and restrained writing style that probes, without respite, the depths of the human soul. The play is set in a Dublin inn, where Mirandolina works among men who desire her and are willing to do anything to bend her to their will. Her intelligence enables her to hold her own against all her suitors. With skill and irony, she even makes fun of them. Yet male desire left unfilled proves capable of terrible acts, ultimately turning into brutal violence. The project has been developed entirely between Ireland and the Veneto region. Alongside Carr’s dramaturgy, the direction is entrusted to Caitríona McLaughlin, who leads a cast of Italian actors. Gaja Masciale plays Mirandolina, sharing the stage with Alex Cendron, Denis Fasolo, Riccardo Gamba, Margherita Mannino, Giancarlo Previati, Massimo Scola, Andrea Tich, and Sandra Toffolatti. Performed in Italian with English surtitles, the production is part of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympiad. Following its press presentation in Treviso on January 28, it will be staged at Teatro Dal Monaco in Treviso (February 5-8), Teatro Goldoni in Venice (February 13-15), and Teatro Verdi in Padua (February 17-22), before touring to Verona, Rijeka in Croatia, Milan, and Dublin. A few days before the premiere, we had the opportunity to meet Marina Carr.
A production strongly championed by Filippo Dini, Artistic Director of the Teatro Stabile del Veneto, Mirandolina is part of the official programme of the Milan–Cortina 2026 Cultural Olympiad and will premiere on 5 February at the Teatro Mario del Monaco in Treviso, on the eve of the opening of the Winter Olympic Games. How are you experiencing these days leading up to the debut?
Very exciting days. I was at the first week of rehearsals and will return on the 26th for the final week. It is always interesting listening to actors talk about their parts. They are excellent company and great fun to be around. Also, I have the good fortune to be working again with director Caitríona McLaughlin. Not to mention the added treat of rehearsing in Treviso, this charming and very walkable city.
What are the essential ingredients in the creation of an international co-production such as this one, involving the Teatro Stabile del Veneto – Teatro Nazionale, the Abbey Theatre of Dublin – Ireland’s National Theatre, and the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka (HNK Rijeka)?
The essential ingredients are good faith and many conversations about the work. Filippo Dini and Caitriona MacLoughlin are wonderful Artistic Directors. From the beginning, they have been open and inspiring about this project and have created an environment that allows us all to flourish.
More than Carlo Goldoni’s text itself, it is the characters of La locandiera that stand at the centre of Mirandolina. How did the idea for this new rewriting come about? And what traces of modernity did you identify in the work of the Venetian playwright?
Goldoni’s characters are vital and full blooded. The conversation between the sexes is eternal and Goldoni’s plays are striking in that respect.
For Goldoni, Mirandolina embodied the prototype of the “new woman”: no longer a Colombina in the service of a master, but an independent and determined woman. An opening towards the future. Now that this future has come to pass, she reveals the precariousness, fragility and disillusionment of both male and female humanity, increasingly distant from one another. What idea of the feminine and the masculine emerges from this new Mirandolina?
I suppose the difference between men and women is what emerges. What men want. What women want. Our assumptions and prejudices with regard to the other. Also the ongoing battle for equality in a divided and embittered war between the sexes.
What other literary influences, other languages, or elements drawn from reality itself are interwoven on stage?
My literary influences are from everywhere, theatre, poetry, prose, painting, cinema. I have my favourites but they change every five minutes. Virginia Woolf remains a constant while others come and go. Right now I am reading Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Blue Flower. I love Tolstoy, Emily Bronte, Anne Carson, Beckett, Tennessee Williams. I also read a lot of myths and always have a volume of Yeats to hand.
From dramaturgy to staging: Mirandolina is the result of a close collaboration with director Caitríona McLaughlin, Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. What were the key elements of this shared creative process?
I work constantly and closely with Caitríona. She is a great sounding board for me and an inspiring collaborator. We have a short hand at this stage. I love the way she takes the play away and makes it her own. She is an artist of great vision and I relish the time I spend working with her.
The cast – entirely Italian, young and exceptionally talented – includes Gaja Masciale alongside Alex Cendron, Denis Fasolo, Riccardo Gamba, Margherita Mannino, Giancarlo Previati, Massimo Scola, Andrea Tich and Sandra Toffolatti. What guidance did you offer the actors in their interpretation of the text?
I talk to the actors about the background of their characters and answer as best I can about line meanings when questions arise. Really, I don’t provide much guidance, as they are highly trained to do the necessary work themselves and they have Caitríona as their guide.
This new Mirandolina also becomes an opportunity for a strong social stance against gender-based violence. What message did you intend to convey through your powerful and incisive writing?
Violence against women is something that concerns us all. It is always shocking and terrifying when it occurs. Women as the butt of male rage and hyper aggression seems to be embedded in the fabric of society. In many parts of the world we see blatant disregard for the rights and freedoms of women. In any society that calls itself humane this should not be the case.
Theatre seems to display a constant vitality which, unlike cinema, can be considered quite stable. As one of the leading playwrights on the international scene, how do you view the current state of contemporary theatre in Europe? And which directions do you believe it must now pursue?
I don’t know how to answer this because I think theatre is in a very precarious state. There is a dumbing down in our sensibility. An impatience and a rejection of what is not immediately explicable. We are losing our capacity for metaphor. We laud reason at the expense of imagination and all the time we haven’t a clue who we are. To quote Novalis, “Being alive is not a natural state.”
