Alessandro Bandini, the recent winner of the Mariangela Melato Award for young actors, brings to life the poignant and mysterious love story between the Italian writer, playwright, director, and painter Giovanni Testori and Alain Toubas. *Per sempre* is a play about the need to feel loved unconditionally and about pain—a visceral plea to be able to love, a cry not to be forgotten.
Forever
Giovanni Testori / Alessandro Bandini
Prelazione
1 hour 10 minutes
Prelazione membri LAC+ dall’1 dicembre.
Vendita aperta a tutti dall’8 dicembre.
World premiere
22.10.2025
LAC Lugano
Tournée
12–13.03.2027
Sala LAC – LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
26–28.02.2027
Casa del Contemporaneo - Napoli, Italia
20.02.2027
Il Funaro - Pistoia, Italia
19.02.2027
Teatro Giuditta Pasta - Saronno (VA), Italia
13.02.2027
Teatro di Ragazzola - Roccabianca (PR), Italia
19.01.2027
Teatro Sociale - Como, Italia
16.01.2027
Cantiere Florida - Firenze, Italia
14–15.01.2027
Teatro delle Maddalene - Padova, Italia
18.12.2026
Teatro Donnafugata - Ragusa, Italia
09–11.12.2026
Teatro di Gradisca d’Isonzo (GO), Italia
01–06.12.2026
Teatro Gobetti / Teatro Nazionale di Torino, Italia
28–29.11.2026
Teatro della Contrada – Trieste, Italia
17–22.11.2026
Teatro Studio Melato – Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italia
05–08.11.2026
Spazio Diamante – Roma, Italia
10.09.2026
FUME Festival - Cesena, Italia
26.08.2026
Ginesio Fest - San Ginesio (MC), Italia
22–23.08.2026
Festival di Narrazione di Arzo
02.07.2026
Festival INequilibrio / Teatro Nardini - Rosignano (LI), Italia
02.07.2026
Festival Inequilibrio – Castiglioncello, Italia
09.05.2026
Festival Bonsai – Ferrara Off, Italia
08.05.2026
Teatro Comunale di Carpi, Italia
19–22.02.2026
Teatro di Villa Torlonia/TdR – Roma, Italia
15.01.2026
Istituto Italiano di Cultura – Parigi, Francia
07–11.01.2026
Teatro Mezzadri/CTB – Brescia, Italia
09–11.12.2025
Teatro della Tosse – Genova, Italia
02–07.12.2025
Teatro Studio Melato – Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italia
21–30.11.2025
Teatro delle Moline/ERT – Bologna, Italia
Forever
Giovanni Testori / Alessandro Bandini
Prelazione
1 hour 10 minutes
Prelazione membri LAC+ dall’1 dicembre.
Vendita aperta a tutti dall’8 dicembre.
World premiere
22.10.2025
LAC Lugano
Tournée
12–13.03.2027
Sala LAC – LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura
26–28.02.2027
Casa del Contemporaneo - Napoli, Italia
20.02.2027
Il Funaro - Pistoia, Italia
19.02.2027
Teatro Giuditta Pasta - Saronno (VA), Italia
13.02.2027
Teatro di Ragazzola - Roccabianca (PR), Italia
19.01.2027
Teatro Sociale - Como, Italia
16.01.2027
Cantiere Florida - Firenze, Italia
14–15.01.2027
Teatro delle Maddalene - Padova, Italia
18.12.2026
Teatro Donnafugata - Ragusa, Italia
09–11.12.2026
Teatro di Gradisca d’Isonzo (GO), Italia
01–06.12.2026
Teatro Gobetti / Teatro Nazionale di Torino, Italia
28–29.11.2026
Teatro della Contrada – Trieste, Italia
17–22.11.2026
Teatro Studio Melato – Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italia
05–08.11.2026
Spazio Diamante – Roma, Italia
10.09.2026
FUME Festival - Cesena, Italia
26.08.2026
Ginesio Fest - San Ginesio (MC), Italia
22–23.08.2026
Festival di Narrazione di Arzo
02.07.2026
Festival INequilibrio / Teatro Nardini - Rosignano (LI), Italia
02.07.2026
Festival Inequilibrio – Castiglioncello, Italia
09.05.2026
Festival Bonsai – Ferrara Off, Italia
08.05.2026
Teatro Comunale di Carpi, Italia
19–22.02.2026
Teatro di Villa Torlonia/TdR – Roma, Italia
15.01.2026
Istituto Italiano di Cultura – Parigi, Francia
07–11.01.2026
Teatro Mezzadri/CTB – Brescia, Italia
09–11.12.2025
Teatro della Tosse – Genova, Italia
02–07.12.2025
Teatro Studio Melato – Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italia
21–30.11.2025
Teatro delle Moline/ERT – Bologna, Italia
Between 1959 and 1962, Testori and his beloved Toubas —whom he met in late 1958 through mutual friends—maintained an intense correspondence consisting of over two thousand handwritten letters in French, which have never been translated, transcribed, or published, as well as drawings and postcards that are equally unpublished. This extensive correspondence reveals a sweeping, at times manipulative love, and a disarming humanity, showcasing a little-known side of the intellectual from Novate Milanese and offering the opportunity to reexamine part of his body of work with a fresh, original, and contemporary perspective.
Bandini engages with the private and poetic voice of Testori—a leading figure in the literary and artistic culture of the second half of the twentieth century—crafting an original play based on a previously unpublished collection of letters and postcards, from selected verses of *I Trionfi*—the famous love poem that opens the poetic trilogy dedicated to Alain Toubas—and from the writer’s private dedications to the young “Franzese.”
The result of a series of artistic residencies, including one at the Italian Cultural Institute in Paris—the city where Testori and Toubas first met on February 24, 1959— *Per sempre* arises from a total, head-on confrontation with Testori’s words: words that, by becoming embodied in the speaker, transform into the endless struggle of a human being facing his own fears.
Partner di produzione
Multimedia Content
Per sempre
Trailer
Per sempre
Alessandro Bandini racconta lo spettacolo
Per sempre
Foto di scena
texts taken from
Unpublished letters and postcards from Giovanni Testori to Alain Toubas
I Trionfi by Giovanni Testori
private dedications by Giovanni Testori to Alain Toubas
Concept and creation
Alessandro Bandini
dramaturgy and translation
Alessandro Bandini, Ugo Fiore
with
Alessandro Bandini
external view
Alessandro Sciarroni
coaching
Tindaro Granata
stage design consulting
Giulia Pastore
lighting design
Elena Vastano
styling
Ettore Lombardi
music consulting
Federica Furlani
lighting, audio, and video technician
Alessandro Di Fraia
production
LAC Lugano Art and Culture
in co-production with
Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa,
CTB Centro Teatrale Bresciano,
Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / Teatro Nazionale
in collaboration with
Casa Testori,
Italian Cultural Institute in Paris,
La Corte Ospitale in Rubiera
with the support of
Inteatro Residenze,
Armunia Foundation