Federico from “Mare Fuori” tells us about his theater debut with his monologue GenZ, to reflect on the world of today’s teenagers
Most people know him as Federico, the new face together with his accomplice Samuele, from the “Mare Fuori” seriesamong other things his first real acting experience. Blue eyes and clean face, makes the contrast with his character even more intense, as he himself defined, a careless, irresponsible and decidedly aggressive type.
He is Francesco di Tullioborn in 2007, e on Friday 17 April he will debut at the Teatro Leonardo in Milan with the monologue “GenZ”, a narrative by a teenager who tells those who are no longer teenagers what it means to be eighteen today. An eternal, but always current, generational clash.
A double debut: by Francesco Di Tullio on a theater stage and by Alessandra Scotti as director, as well as being co-author of the text.
Francesco, how was the show born?
“It was born some time ago from an idea that turned into a quiet but fruitful chat. I wanted to experiment in a new environment which could be the theatre. I started working with Alessandra Scotti, director and author of the text. I explained to her the themes I would like to develop. She obviously put her own spin on it, enriching it with her excellent pen. And so a concrete project was born. We had a very good time.”
What does it mean to be eighteen today?
“Being eighteen years old today is basically not that different from ten, twenty or thirty years ago. Obviously, situations, social, political and life circumstances have a huge impact on a person’s growth.
For everyone, being eighteen means finding yourself in the middle of nowhere, outside of that bubble in which you grew up until then. You find yourself a little more alone and try to discover your path, to understand who you are and what you want in life: a bit of a new starting point, which doesn’t start when you turn eighteen. It is a phase of growth in that very different age group, full of new emotions and challenges.”
You come from an artistic family. Mother director and father actor. At what age did you decide you wanted to become an actor?
“When I was little I took part in films, but I didn’t want to act, also to distance myself from my parents’ working environment. At least, I thought so for seventeen years. Something changed after my participation in “Mare Fuori”. I found the acting sphere, the world of cinema very interesting and I became passionate about everything that is the actor’s universe: the possibility of playing someone different from you, detaching yourself from your being.”
Today there is a more friendly relationship with parents. Do you think they can understand you more or are there more difficulties?
“I have always had a wonderful relationship with my parents, they supported me in my projects, in what were my dreams or my ideas, however, I also had several misunderstandings and arguments, due to a problem that arose from listening, or rather, from the lack of listening. On both sides. When I reached eighteen, I began to structure a different type of thought, a different type of mentality to deal with new situations, and they too approached me in a different way, because they understood that the their attitude didn’t work. And mine didn’t work either. Since both points of view have changed, this very friendly relationship has been created. And it certainly works much better.”
Is there anything you particularly care about in this monologue?
“Every theme developed in the show is something heartfelt that I wanted to talk about. However, there is a part written entirely by me about anxiety. It is a topic that I care a lot about.”
Speaking of anxiety: why do you think it affects so many young people today?
“It depends from case to case, in general the new generations are much more fragile and need more support. There are a thousand factors to consider, there is never just one that leads one generation to be more fragile than another. Social media certainly has something to do with it, the insecurity that seeing people who always do better than you, who have more than you, has something to do with it, the behavior of our parents towards us, the environment in which we grow up, the historical period.”
You are also studying…
“I’m in my fifth year of high school and I’m graduating this year.”
Favorite subjects?
“Philosophy, literature and history. Definitely the humanities”
And his monologue reflects these preferences. A journey into adolescence, between dreams, fears and contradictions. As director Alessandra Scotti states: “the acting is realistic, colloquial and dirty, as is the text, which aims to reach the viewer straight, tossing him between irony and reflection with the unfiltered sincerity that only a very young adult can afford to shout.”
