The Actor's Craft

They followed different paths, both passing through Bocconi, which led them to a common landing place. Donato Nubile and Marco Colombo Bolla are both actors, teachers and managers for a play by Compagnia Campo Teatrale and Teatro Guanella. The former is 36 years old with a degree in Business Administration, while the latter is 29 and a graduate from the Bachelor of Economics and Management in Arts, Culture and Communication, with a final paper on theater as a metaphor for a model of personnel management.

For Donato, who is currently managing director of Campo Teatrale, there was nothing to forecast his career in this field: "I discovered theater at a late age, towards the end of university, and almost as a game. I never would have imagined that it could become my job," he says. He did a few training courses at Campo Teatrale and worked at a "traditional" job at a large insurance company. But it was a short stint. "I met Argentine actor and director Cesar Brie and I became a part of his company, which kept me outside Milan for a few months. Theater became my job at that point."

Donato Nubile, left, with Marco Bolla

Donato Nubile is now one of Campo Teatrale's four partners, one of whom is Marco Bolla, who had a completely different approach to theater. "My career as a student and my career as an actor advanced at the same rate," says Marco. "I had already led an acting class at Campo Teatrale and I worked in laboratories and shows for children. After graduation I participated in several interviews for a job more closely related to my studies, but then my work as an actor and trainer became my life. I've never had any other job."

Today Campo Teatrale is one of the most important places of its kind in Milan, "which continues to operate even though it doesn't receive public funds," proudly explains Donato. "Our main activity is as an acting school, with very specific courses for both amateurs and professionals, where Marco and I also work as teachers." Off the stage, Donato also works with administrative aspects, while Marco focuses on organizational aspects. "It's a varied and many-sided activity which includes seminars, laboratories for schools, and, though in a rather marginal form, the organization of events and company training. The production and distribution of plays is also very important, and we are both involved as actors."

Donato and Marco have recently been very involved in rehearsals for Coraggio, il meglio è passato!, which was performed at the Teatro Guanella 10-20 February (discounted tickets at 12 euros were available for Bocconi students, faculty and staff showing their Bocconi ID). The play was inspired by The American Clock, a play by Arthur Miller, which tells the story of a middle-class American family involved in and overcome by the Depression during the 1930s, the end of the great American dream. "Maintaining Miller's main core," they explain, "we rewrote the text, developing several topics in light of the events of the economic crisis we are experiencing now."

"In particular, we reviewed the declarations by the US politicians of the time, comparing them with our current government leaders and we found that they are practically identical." To reflect on this and other aspects, every evening the play is followed by an event linked to topics on stage: on the 16th, Bocconi faculty member Severino Salvemini attended. "We want to make the audience a part of the narrated events," says Donato, "by creating events which allow spectators to examine the topics of the play."