Romeo Castellucci

Romeo Castellucci (born August 4, 1960) is an Italian theatre director, playwright, artist and designer. Since the 1980s he has been one part of the European theatrical avant-garde. Romeo Castellucci graduated with a degree in painting and stage design from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna. In 1981, jointly with Claudia Castellucci and Chiara Guidi, he founded Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio.

Since then he has produced numerous plays as an author, director and a designer of sets, lighting, sound and costumes. His works, which combine multiple arts to achieve a holistic effect, have been presented in more than 50 countries. Castellucci’s dramatic lines challenge the primacy of literature. His theatre is a visual, complex art rich in vision. He has developed a language that is comprehensible in the same way as music, sculpture, painting and architecture can be.

Since 2006, Castellucci has been working individually. His productions are regularly invited to the world’s most prestigious theatres, opera houses and festivals.

Romeo Castellucci has released more than a dozen books and has received numerous awards and recognitions, amongst which:

Europe Prize Theatrical Realities, with Chiara Guidi, awarded to Socìetas Raffaello Sanzio (Taormina, 2000)

Best Opera Director (Opernwelt magazine, 2014)

The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement (La Biennale Teatro di Venezia; 2013)

Honoris Causa (Università di Bologna, 2014)

Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the Ministry of Culture of the French Republic (2002)

Prize for Best International Production for Genesi. From the Museum of Sleep (Dublin Theatre Festival, 2000)

Ubu Prize (1997, 2000, 2004, and 2006 with special distinction).

Masque d’Or Prize for best foreign play for Orestea (una commedia organica?)(Festival Theatre des Ameriques in Canada, 1996).

In 2003 he became director of the theatre section of the 37th edition of the Venice Biennale, and in 2008 he was one of two "associate artists" at the Festival d'Avignon, and created three pieces inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy.