ItalianoThe Debut
21 October 18:45
Sala Sinopoli
Pub Acc
Festa del cinema
Synopsis
When Mona Friedman is cast in a bit part in an even smaller community theater play, she transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor. Willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role, and so to shine, Mona is determined to go as far as to wage war against Jerry, the show’s domineering director.
COMMENTARY
A brilliant and emotional comedy, a powerful story of rebirth and self-discovery through the magic of art and performance.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
When I was a teenager in New Jersey, in the 1990s, I did community theatre. It was a world I found to be both refuge and escape; I didn’t have many friends, so it became my lifeline: it was the promise of something better and something outside myself. Growing up, theatre gave me this mixture of incredible enlivening terror and a sense of belonging. When we began to work on The Debut, this was not exactly the setting. We later happened on the perfect set: a vintage theatre right in the heart of New Jersey. I mean… I was writing about Mona and her absurd transformation, but I had also been writing about my own childhood.
Director
Jesse Eisenberg
Jesse Eisenberg is an acclaimed American actor, playwright and director. He is a contributor to The New Yorker, and has starred in The Squid and the Whale, The Social Network, Louder than Bombs, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Café Society. He directed When You Finish Saving the World (2022), presented at Cannes and adapted from the eponymous radio drama he wrote, winning an Audie Award. A Real Pain (2024), for which he wrote the Oscar®-nominated screenplay, won awards at Sundance and BAFTA.