In Antonioni Project, three film scenarios are interwoven into one great story revolving around the position that love occupies in the lives of contemporary people.

In L’Avventura (The Adventure), a young woman mysteriously disappears on an island off the coast. Her best friend is torn by her feelings for the lover the young woman has left behind. The budding of a relationship is the central focus in L’Avventura. ‘The characters experience an emotional adventure, a psychological and moral adventure – the death and birth of a love affair – which causes them to react against the conventions and norms of a bygone world,’ according to Antonioni.

In La Notte (The Night), a middle-aged couple are captive to their memories of the passion that once brought them together. This story is a meticulous anatomy of a relationship that has come to a standstill. In addition to the place that marriage has (or no longer has) in a modern, changing society, the socially critical Antonioni also examines the place of the artist. The industrialist in La Notte obviously considers his manner of directing his company to be a creative work of art.

In L’Eclisse (The Eclipse), a man and a woman have an irresistible sexual attraction for one another but are not capable of experiencing love as a grand adventure. Antonioni: ‘L’Eclisse is not a subtle psychological character film but a story about feelings, or the lack of them, in a world in which the power of money rules. At the same time, money is an abstract value, a metaphor for the coldness of modern life.’

In Antonioni Project, all of these characters meet each other on the night of a huge party. There they must face the dark contradictions and inner conflicts underlying their desires.

Simultaneously performed, filmed and projected onto a giant screen, the show reinvents Antonioni’s portraits of bourgeois relationships in public and private settings. Multiple perspectives provide an intimate and visceral insight into the lives of the key characters depicted in the films as they wrestle with their emotions, indulge their passions and search for the truth.

The music of Antonioni Project was created in a spectacular way, being composed during its own rehearsal period. The scores were sent daily to New York, where they were recorded and mixed by the multi-talented Ruben Samama, who also created the electronic part of the music. A major aspect of Antonioni Project is the ‘live’ element throughout. All the vocals and trumpet playing are live in order to fully integrate with the dynamic of the play. In addition, all music played by The Trumpack! is cued live on stage.