La Diva del Bataclan is a musical that delves into the dark folds of a society obsessed with fame and redemption. Created by Gabriele Paolocà, with music by Fabio Antonelli, the show tells the story of Audrey, a young woman willing to do anything to escape a reality she feels disconnected from. Claudia Marsicano brings this ambiguous figure to life, reinventing herself as a survivor of the Bataclan attacks in a dangerous game of fiction and reality. The attacks of November 13, 2015, were the epicenter of a media explosion, where pain and solidarity took shape and voice on social media, but also — in the contradiction that marks our present — became a breeding ground for envy over the visibility of those at the center of the tragedy. In a world of images and words, which amplifies drama by turning it into a spectacle, the fertile ground for creating “false victims” emerges: figures who choose to boost their visibility by appropriating the pain of others. In her desperate desire for redemption, Audrey immerses herself in a constructed identity, challenging reality and its boundaries, and transforms into a martyr, the “Diva of Bataclan.” A rocker (referring to the Eagles of Death Metal band performing on the night of the tragic event), she is ready to drag the audience into a whirlwind where every note tells the desire to reinvent oneself and disappear, to be seen at any cost.
Gabriele Paolocà is a director, playwright, and actor in both theater and film. He is a founding member of the VicoQuartoMazzini company, with which he has been exploring original works and reinterpretations of great theatrical and literary classics since 2010. In 2024, with VQM, he won 4 Ubu Awards (Best Show, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Lighting Design) for La Ferocia, and in 2021, he received the Hystrio Award as the best emerging Italian company. His works include La Ferocia (2023), based on the novel by Nicola Lagioia, produced by SCARTI Centro di Produzione Teatrale d’Innovazione, Elsinor Centro di Produzione Teatrale, LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura, Romaeuropa Festival, Tric Teatri di Bari, and Teatro Nazionale Genova; Livore. Mozart & Salieri (2020), produced by SCARTI and Festival delle Colline Torinesi; Vieni su Marte (2018), supported by Mibact and SIAE as part of the “Sillumina” initiative; Leave the Kids Alone (2018), an installation produced by Fabulamundi Playwriting Europe; Karamazov (2017), a special project debuting at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Little Europa (2016), a reworking of Henrik Ibsen’s Little Eyolf, selected by the Ibsen Festival in Oslo; and Amleto Fx (2015), winner of the In-box Award and Direction Under 30.
Claudia Marsicano is an actress in both cinema and theater, performer, and director, who won the Ubu Award in 2017 as Best Actress and Performer Under 35. She is known for her theatrical performances in R.osa by Silvia Gribaudi, nominated for the 2017 Ubu Award as Best Dance Show and toured worldwide, as well as Socialmente and Tropicana by the Milanese company Frigoproduzioni. She has also worked with the LeviedelFool company in Heretico and Made in China. Marsicano participated in the film Mi chiedo quando ti mancherò, directed by Francesco Fei. In 2021, she was cast by Cattleya to play the role of Caterina in the Italian version of This Is Us, titled Noi.
Fabio Antonelli is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has composed and produced music for films, TV, theater, photographic exhibitions, and video games in Italy, the United States, Nigeria, and China. Living between Rome, Los Angeles, and Beijing, Antonelli has collaborated over the years with photographer Steve McCurry, Eimear Noone, the conductor of the 2020 Academy Awards orchestra and also the conductor for Blizzard video game soundtracks, as well as China Central Television (CCTV). He regularly collaborates with cartoonist and animator Sio (Scottecs) and composed the music for his first animated film, The Biggest Fly in the World, produced by I Wonder Pictures. Antonelli is also the creator of the podcast SuonA Tipo Bene, which has garnered over 330,000 listens in Italy.
direction, dramaturgy and lyrics Gabriele Paolocà with Claudia Marsicano
original music Fabio Antonelli
assistant director Marco Fasciana
scenes Rosita Vallefuoco
lights Martìn Emanuel Palma
costumes Anna Coluccia
press office Antonella Mucciaccio
produced by Cranpi, SCARTI Centro di Produzione Teatrale d’Innovazione, Romaeuropa Festival
with the contribution of MiC – Ministry of Culture
with the support of Teatro Biblioteca Quarticciolo
