The Costume Workshop of the Franco Parenti Theatre
When you’re sitting watching a play at the theatre, you are naturally focused on the gestures and words spoken by the actors, the songs, dances, tragedies and comedies. What you often fail to notice are the details of the costumes and you’re also unlikely to wonder who designed them and where.
If you’re at the Franco Parenti Theatre, the person in charge of all this backstage work is Simona Dondoni.
At the start, the theatre was known as the Salone Pier Lombardo. It was founded in 1972 by Andrée Ruth Shammah and a group of intellectuals, one of whom was Franco Parenti. What makes it unusual is that it has an in-house costume workshop where the clothes for the many theatre plays are cut, sewn and stored.
If you can find your way through the intricate maze of narrow corridors hung with mementos underneath the theatre, you’ll come across an area split into two parts: this is where Simona Dondoni, the costume seamstress, breathes life into the clothes that will end up on stage.
At the start, the theatre was known as the Salone Pier Lombardo. It was founded in 1972 by Andrée Ruth Shammah and a group of intellectuals, one of whom was Franco Parenti. What makes it unusual is that it has an in-house costume workshop where the clothes for the many theatre plays are cut, sewn and stored.
If you can find your way through the intricate maze of narrow corridors hung with mementos underneath the theatre, you’ll come across an area split into two parts: this is where Simona Dondoni, the costume seamstress, breathes life into the clothes that will end up on stage.
Simona Dondoni, the seamstress and costume designer of the Parenti Theatre
Simona’s role in the theatre as a seamstress and costume designer is underpinned by a mixture of skill and fondness for the place. She mastered the profession thanks to her grandmother who occupied exactly the same position in the same theatre. The old lady taught her granddaughter the ins and outs of costume design at the Franco Parenti because Simona lost her mother at any early age and spent a lot of time with her grandma.
So, the Theatre became Simona’s family and today she is the one who puts together the garments drawn by the costume designer. Each one is carefully preserved because clothes can often be transformed and adapted for new stage requirements. And Simona tells us that creativity alone is not enough: you have to be practical and flexible, liaising between the various figures involved in a theatre production. And every now and again, you might even manage to work the odd miracle.
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