Actor, author and director. With the show Kohlhaas in 1989, through an original research path, he gave life to the narrative theatre that marks the Italian theatre scene. An eclectic and complex figure of contemporary Italian theatre, he has experimented with choral dramaturgies by creating event-shows for many actors, such as Come gocce di una fiumana (IDI award for direction), or Antigone delle città, a show of civil commitment on the Bologna massacre of 2 August, or by directing projects such as I Porti del Mediterraneo with actors from various countries in the Mediterranean area. At the same time, he has continued his personal research in the field of narrative by creating shows such as Tracce, Corpo di Stato and Frollo, protagonists of successful tours and still in Baliani’s repertoire.
Between 2012 and 2015, with Marco Balsamo and Stefano Accorsi, he gave life to the project Grandi italiani: the shows Giocando con Orlando and Decamerone. Vizi virtù passioni were born, in which Baliani is the director and author of the two rewritings.
In 2015, on the centenary of the First World War, he starred in the show Trincea, for which he won the Franco Enriquez award for best performance. This show started the post-narration cycle, a de facto evolution of narrative theatre. The show Una notte sbagliata, also produced by Marche Teatro, which sees Baliani in the dual role of performer and author, is also part of this trend. In the year of the pandemic, Baliani wrote and directed the show L’attore nella casa di cristallo, which was staged from 15 June 2020, the day the theatres reopened, in the square in front of the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona. The show also became a book, published by Titivillus Edizioni.
In 2017, Baliani was called to direct the show Sette contro Tebe staged at the Teatro Greco in Syracuse as part of the 53rd cycle of classical performances. The show was then repeated at the Terme di Baia for the Napoli Teatro Festival Italia and at the Teatro Romano in Verona. Also intended for large spaces is the show Quinta stagione of 2021, based on the poem of the same name by Franco Marcoaldi and staged at the Teatro Grande in Pompeii, with sets by Mimmo Paladino, the soundscape by Mirto Baliani and the production of the Teatro di Napoli.
Furthermore, Marco Baliani has signed as librettist and director the contemporary operas Il sogno di una cosa and Corpi eretici, with music by Mauro Montalbetti. In 2021 he directed the opera Gianni Schicchi, presented by Marche Teatro, with the musical direction of Marco Guidarini.
For the cinema he has been directed by directors such as Francesca Archibugi, Roberto Andò, Saverio Costanzo, Cristina Comencini and Mario Martone. As a writer he has published novels, short stories and essays including Ho cavalcato in groppa ad una sedia (Titivillus editions) and for Rizzoli Corpo di stato, Pinocchio Nero, L’Amore Buono, Nel Regno di Acilia, La metà di Sophia, and L’occasione. In 2021, Bompiani published La pietra oscura, an ecological fantasy that features five kids in the last months of middle school, before each one takes what will be their own path.
