pretty much shortly

I’m an all-around artist and a cultural operator and mediator. My aim is to create cultural valuable content and convey it through an artistic format – the more hybrid the better. I write, translate, design, direct, perform – and mediate. My projects run often through my association Satyrikon, their constants being a deep connection to music and poetry, as addressing issues from an explicitly female perspective. I also never lost my old passion for Ancient Greek myths and motifs and I’m reviving it with Odysseiai, f.pl., a research on a feminine plural of voices on and within the Odyssey leading to different projects.

Right below is a biography in German, Italian and English. This website is collecting mostly my own projects, as well as a list of texts I have written or translated. At this link you can also find my CV as a performer.

photo © larryRRwilliams

bio

de

1970 in Turin geboren und Wahlwienerin, Roberta Cortese studierte Musik- und Theaterwissenschaft in Turin, Operngesang in Turin und Wien und entwickelte sich im Burgtheater-Ensemble der Peymann-Ära zur Schauspielerin. In den Jahren wirkte sie auch an Volkstheater Wien, Schauspielhaus Graz sowie in der Wiener freien Szene, u. a. mit Regisseuren wie Einar Schleef, Dimiter Gotscheff, Arie Zinger, Philip Tiedemann, Markus Kupferblum, Michael Scheidl.

2001 kehrte sie nach Italien zurück und wirkte bis 2015 in Produktionen zeitgenössischer Dramatik, oft mit Musik: am TST, TPE, Teatro Regio, in Turin, Teatro Due Parma, Teatro dell’Acquario Cosenza sowie beim Festival delle Colline Torinesi und Spoleto Festival. Mit Regisseuren wie Davide Livermore, Walter Le Moli, Lorenzo Fontana, mit Musikern wie Andrea Chenna, Marcello Fera, Fabio Biondi. Sie startete dann auch Kooperationen mit dem Studio MyBossWas.

Von 2002 bis 2008 war sie Dramaturgin des von ihr mitbegründete CineTeatro Baretti in Turin (Leitung Davide Livermore) wo sie begann, als Autorin und Übersetzerin zu wirken. Sie trug vielen Premieren fremder Autor*innen dazu bei, vor allem Elfriede Jelinek, und ihre Theaterstücke – einige davon zusammen mit Ehemann Luigi Chiarella geschrieben – wurden am CineTeatro Baretti, Teatro Stabile Torino, Spoleto Festival aufgeführt. Eine Zeit lang als Opernregisseurin tätig (u.a. am Piccolo Regio Puccini in Turin und Teatro Rendano in Cosenza), 2009 gründete sie mit Chiarella den Verein Satyrikon, mit dem die beiden seitdem ihre eigenen Projekte umsetzen.

Seit 2015 lebt sie wieder in Wien und arbeitet weiterhin über Grenzen und Genren. Sie wirkte u.a. mit Christoph Marthaler, Laura Mello, echoraum, Kabinetttheater, wiederholt mit MyBossWas und sirene Operntheater. Im Jahr 2020 gründeten Luigi Chiarella und sie Satyrikon in Wien erneut und 2021 erwarb sie eine Ausbildung in Kulturvermittlung, einem Bereich in dem sie zunehmend tätig ist.

Ihr Herzensprojekt ist Odysseiai f.pl., eine Recherche über zeitgenössische Umschreibungen der Odyssee vonseiten Autorinnen, zu der verschiedene Projekte gehören. Aktuell arbeitet sie an Odissea in sei sonetti, einem Filmprojekt koproduziert von Satyrikon und MyBossWas.

it

Nata nel 1970 a Torino e attiva a Vienna, Roberta Cortese studia Materie Letterarie con Indirizzo Artistico all’Università di Torino e canto lirico a Torino e a Vienna, dove si forma come attrice nella compagnia del Burgtheater dell’era Peymann. In quegli anni lavora anche al Volkstheater di Vienna, al Schauspielhaus di Graz e nella scena-off viennese, con registi come Einar Schleef, Dimiter Gotscheff, Arie Zinger, Philip Tiedemann, Markus Kupferblum, Michael Scheidl.

Nel 2001 torna in Italia, dove fino al 2015 lavora in produzioni di teatro contemporaneo, spesso musicale: al TST, TPE, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro Due di Parma, Teatro dell’Acquario di Cosenza, al Festiva delle Colline Torinesi e al Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto. Collabora coi registi Davide Livermore, Walter Le Moli, Lorenzo Fontana, i musicisti Andrea Chenna, Marcello Fera, Fabio Biondi e iniziano le sue collaborazioni con lo studio MyBossWas.

Dal 2002 al 2008 è Dramaturgin del CineTeatro Baretti di Torino, da lei co-fondato e diretto da Davide Livermore, dove avvia la sua attività di autrice e traduttrice. In Italia ha contribuito alla realizzazione di numerose prime di autori stranieri, prima fra tutti Elfriede Jelinek, e i suoi testi – alcuni scritti assieme al marito Luigi Chiarella – sono andati in scena a CineTeatro Baretti, Teatro Stabile di Torino, Festival dei Due Mondi di Spoleto. Per un periodo lavora come regista lirica (fra gli altri al Piccolo Regio Puccini di Torino e al Teatro Rendano di Cosenza), poi nel 2009 fonda con Chiarella l’associazione Satyrikon, con cui da allora la coppia si dedica a progetti propri.

Dal 2015 vive di nuovo a Vienna e continua a operare a cavallo tra confini e generi. Ha lavorato tra gli altri con Christoph Marthaler, Laura Mello, echoraum, Kabinetttheater, a più riprese con MyBossWas e sirene Operntheater. Nel 2020 con Luigi Chiarella ha rifondato Satyrikon a Vienna e nel 2021 ha conseguito la qualifica di mediatrice artistico-culturale, ambito in cui è sempre più attiva.

Il suo progetto del cuore è Odysseiai f.pl., una ricerca su riscritture contemporanee femminili dell’Odissea in cui rientrano vari progetti. Attualmente sta lavorando a Odissea in sei sonetti, un progetto filmico coprodotto da Satyrikon e MyBossWas.

en

Born 1970 in Turin and based in Vienna, Roberta Cortese studied Arts, Music and Drama at the University of Turin, operatic singing in Turin and Vienna and developed there as an actress within the company of the Burgtheater of the Peymann’s era. In those years she also worked at Volkstheater Vienna, Schauspielhaus Graz and in the Viennese off-scene, a.o. with directors such as Einar Schleef, Dimiter Gotscheff, Arie Zinger, Philip Tiedemann, Markus Kupferblum, Michael Scheidl.

In 2001 she went back to Italy, where up to 2015 she performed in contemporary plays, mostly with music: at TST, TPE, Teatro Regio in Turin, Teatro Due in Parma, Teatro dell’Acquario Cosenza, Festival delle Colline Torinesi and Spoleto Festival. There she worked with directors Davide Livermore, Walter Le Moli, Lorenzo Fontana, with musicians Andrea Chenna, Marcello Fera, Fabio Biondi, started cohoperating with the multimedia studio MyBossWas.

From 2002 to 2008 she was also Dramaturgin of the co-founded CineTeatro Baretti in Turin (dir. Davide Livermore), where she started to write and translate theatre plays. She contributed to the staging of several premieres by foreign authors, above all Elfriede Jelinek, and her plays – some of which written with husband Luigi Chiarella – were staged at CineTeatro Baretti, Teatro Stabile di Torino, Spoleto Festival. She worked as an opera director, too (a.o. at Piccolo Regio Puccini in Turin and at Teatro Rendano in Cosenza), then 2009 she founded together with Chiarella the association Satyrikon, with which since then they run their own projects.

Since 2015 she lives in Vienna again, operating over borders and genres. She worked a.o. with Christoph Marthaler, Laura Mello, echoraum, Kabinetttheater, and repeatedly with MyBossWas and sirene Operntheater. In 2020, she re-founded Satyrikon in Vienna with Luigi Chiarella and in 2021 she acquired a qualification in cultural mediation, a field in which she is more and more active.

Her heart’s project is Odysseiai f.pl., a research on contemporary women’s rewritings of the Odyssey leading to several different projects. Currently, she’s working on Odissea in sei sonetti, a movie project coproduced by Satyrikon and MyBossWas.