Solo Brodo (Boiling), 2024

The performance Solo Brodo (Boiling) is based on and further develops the origin myth of the character Fulmine, the personification of a loud, confounding anti-heroic persona. The myth derives from rumours, misleading assertions, magical thinking, and set pieces from opera and pop culture. Rebecca Solari combines elements of installation, text, sound, and scenic design in an explosive spectacle – as the name of the character implies: “fulmine” is Italian for lightning bolt; in French “fulminer” means as much as exploding, losing one’s composure, or shouting. Iconographic visual elements like a volcano, lightning, chewing gum, a swamp, and the primordial soup that gives the piece its title are fused with a fluid use of language as Solari mixes the dialect of the Ticino (her mother tongue) with French and English. The protagonist transforms their body, substance, language, gender, and codes over the course of the performance, offering a critique of rigid identities as well as the institutional art scene of Switzerland.