On the 25th of April, Anna Proclemer, one of our greatest Italian stage actresses, died in Rome at the age of 90.

Click on the image below to visit her official website .

Born in Trento in 1923 Anna Proclemer began acting in the early 40’s. I first saw her many years ago at the Teatro del Giglio di Lucca where she was performing in Chi ha paura di Virginia Woolf? (Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?), and immediately fell in love with her: she had a deep voice and a great stage presence. I still have an image from that play impressed in my mind: Anna Proclemer, dressed in red, was sitting on a sofa, her left arm stretched over the back, and with just a simple rolling movement of her left hand and the lifting of an eyebrow she managed to perfectly express her character’s annoyance. For me, this little gesture was so powerful that, from where I was sitting up in the loggione (gallery), I had the impression that all the other actors/characters had disappeared and she had grown to fill the whole stage.

A few years later, by a strange coincidence, I was very lucky to see her once more:

Era il luglio del 1992. Io mi trovavo per la prima volta in vita mia in Grecia, ad Atene. Ero lì per lavoro, perché facevo parte della Commissione di Maturità al Liceo Scientifico italiano di Atene e ovviamente al fine settimana non si lavorava, così decisi di approfittarne per visitare alcuni dei siti che avevo studiato sui miei libri di archeologia e prenotai una gita di due giorni in autobus. La sera del primo giorno ci fermammo in un albergo in una moderna cittadina sulla costa, vicina all’antico teatro di Epidauro, famoso per la sua meravigliosa acustica. Mentre visitavo la cittadina aspettando l’ora di cena, fuori dall’ufficio turistico vidi un poster che pubblicizzava proprio per quella sera una rappresentazione dell’Edipo Re di Sofocle al teatro di Epidauro. Non mi soffermai nemmeno a leggere il nome della compagnia, pensai solo che non potevo farmi scappare un’occasione simile, e senza pensarci due volte entrai e comprai il biglietto.

It was July of 1992. I found myself, for the first time in my life, in Athens, Greece. I was there for work because I was part of the end of Secondary School Exam Board at the Italian Liceo Scientifico in Athens, and obviously one doesn’t work at the weekend, so I decided to make the most of it by visiting some of the sites that I’d studied in my archaeology books, and I booked a two day bus trip. On the evening of the first day we stopped at a hotel in a modern town on the coast, close to the ancient theatre of Epidaurus, famous for its wonderful acoustic qualities. Whilst I visited the little town waiting for dinner time I noticed a poster outside the tourist office advertising an interpretation of ’Oedipus Rex’ by Sophocles that very evening at the theatre of Epidaurus. I didn’t even hang around to read the name of the company of actors, my only thought was that I couldn’t miss an opportunity like that, and without giving it  second thought I went in and bought a ticket.

Dopo cena andai nella piazza dove ci aspettava l’autobus per portarci ad Epidauro. Appena arrivata al teatro, la prima persona che incontrai fu un illustre professore universitario italiano, docente di Greco, che avevo conosciuto un paio di anni prima al Cairo ad un convegno internazionale di studi classici. Dopo un breve saluto andai a trovar posto sugli spalti del più famoso teatro antico, e subito una nuova sorpresa: nella fila sotto di me venne a sedersi un gruppo d’italiani e sentii uno di loro chiamare: “Piera, siamo qui!”. Forse per la suggestione del luogo, io pensai immediatamente a Piera Degli Esposti, grande attrice teatrale, ed … era proprio lei, col suo profilo inconfondibile! “Beh, sono in buona compagnia stasera” mi dissi.

After dinner I went to the square where the bus was waiting to take us to Epidaurus. As soon as I got to the theatre the first person I met was an illustrious Italian university professor, head professor of Greek, that I’d met a couple of years before in Cairo  at an international conference on classical studies. After a quick hello I went to find a place on the seats of the most famous of ancient theatres (designed by Polykleitos the Younger in the 4th century BC) when, immediately, a new surprise: in the row below me a group of Italians came and sat down, and I heard one of them call: “Piera, we’re here!”. Perhaps because of the setting I immediately thought of Piera Degli Esposti, a great theatrical actress, and … it was really her, with her unmistakable profile! “Well, I’m in good company this evening!” I said to myself.

Sopra: Piera Degli Esposti

Ed ecco cominciare lo spettacolo: io mi ero mentalmente preparata ad una recita in greco antico ed ero pronta a cercare di riconoscere qua e là qualche parola sopravvissuta alla ruggine degli anni, ma con mio grande stupore gli attori parlavano in italiano! Erano italiani e famosi!: Giancarlo Sbragia, Mariano Rigillo, e lei, la grandissima Anna Proclemer nel ruolo di Giocasta. Si può essere più fortunati di così?

And now the show began: I was mentally prepared for a performance in ancient Greek and I was ready to try and recognise, here and there, a few words from my rusty vocabulary, but to my great amazement the actors spoke in Italian. They were Italians, and famous!: Giancarlo Sbragia, Mariano Rigillo, and her, the great Anna Proclemer playing the part of Giocasta. Could one be any luckier?

Grazie Anna per le indimenticabili emozioni che mi hai regalato! Riposa In Pace

Thank you Anna for the unforgettable emotions that you gave me! Rest in Peace