Created and directed by Tommaso Giacomin of TG Works, The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin is “a highly physical and multidisciplinary piece of theatre.
It navigates the psychological and physical breakdown of Alec Baldwin – not the real actor, just a homonym – as he grapples with a pervasive sense of Nausea towards himself and the desensitized digital society he is part of.”
Where: The Cockpit
When: 6 & 8 Nov
Ticket link: https://www.voilafestival.co.uk/events/the-uncontainable-nausea-of-alec-baldwin/
Tommaso tells us more about the show.
Tell me a bit about your show. Where did the idea come from?
The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin has been in development for over a year now.
It is a highly physical, absurd, and multidisciplinary piece about existential dread in today’s world; more specifically about identity, guilt, and the slow, spiralling breakdown of a man: Alec Baldwin.
Not that Alec Baldwin, the really famous one – just someone who happens to share his name, and who might have also been involved in a tragic accident!
The idea started when I was reading Henry VI by William Shakespeare and stumbled on the line: “The smallest worm will turn, being trodden on.” That hit me.
What makes someone turn? How much pressure does it take? Where is the line for us, as human beings, before we really turn – and has it already been crossed?
We’re living in a very turbulent time. We are always connected, with instant global visibility on what’s happening everywhere.
Where identity becomes spectacle; where violence – political, physical, digital – is the main food we are fed on our feed. How is that affecting us? Is it making us turn or keeping us still?
This show became a way to question that paralysis. What does it mean to turn? And what is the cost of not turning?
Then one day, I randomly saw a girl reading Sartre’s Nausea on the tube. I wasn’t deeply familiar with the book, but the title alone cracked something open.
I started interacting with an AI bot as a character experiencing that Nausea today, and the name Alec appeared. 1+1 = The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin!
We’re obviously very aware of the sensitivity around the real Alec Baldwin’s situation and are not exploiting the tragedy he was involved in.
But that situation does raise urgent, uncomfortable questions about guilt, responsibility, and how we process violence in a world where everything becomes content.
This show dives headfirst into that discomfort – and dares the audience to sit in the Nausea with us.
Why should audiences choose your show? How would you sell it in one sentence?
Because it’s bonkers!
In all seriousness, it’s absurdism at its finest, but also a very honest response to what’s happening in the world right now.
It’s collaborative, physical, dark, daring, and uncomfortably funny.
There’s already a Reddit thread where people are roasting the show before even seeing it – so it’s clearly already controversial!
In one sentence? Ahh, I don’t know. I guess I’ll borrow the words of a producer who saw some early material:
“The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin made me feel seen. It expresses exactly how it feels to be alive in the world today.”
What does being part of the Voila! Festival mean to you?
Voila! feels like the right home for the first iteration of this piece; an open playground for work that dares to be experimental, multilingual, and rebellious!
Being part of Voila! means joining a network of artists who are equally restless, boundary-pushing, and unafraid to speak to the chaos of now.
It is also a great opportunity to present in London TG WORKS, our new theatre company, and to show what kind of work we make!
How did you make a start in the industry?
Theatre has been, and always will be, the constant in my life. Growing up in a working-class family with very little financial means, on the periphery of a city in Veneto, Italy, hasn’t really exposed me to much of it, at a young age.
Luckily, I had the opportunity to get closer to it in high school and it became clear it was where I belonged – so when I discovered the world of Lecoq, I decided to apply and gained a place there over 10 years ago.
After Lecoq, I decided to move to London, as I was always interested in making work in English, and during Covid I decided to retrain and gained a place on the MA Theatre Lab at RADA.
My time at RADA helped me solidify my artistic vision for the kind of theatre I want to make. Despite having been making work for the past 10 years, I was – and still am – exploring my practice!
This year has actually been pivotal in my career, as I finally decided to put myself out there and create a theatre company with my long-time collaborator Manuela Pierri, which reunites our past work but also creates a collaborative platform where I can work with some amazing artists I’ve collaborated with before.
It feels great to start this journey, and The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin feels like the right piece to share our work with a wider audience.
What’s next for the show?
The Uncontainable Nausea of Alec Baldwin was selected as one of eight semifinalist pieces for the Young Directors Scheme of the Venice Biennale.
It was hand-picked by Willem Dafoe, who saw an extract of the show and with whom I had the pleasure of discussing the project.
Unfortunately, we didn’t win the competition, but the project has continued to grow, and we’re hoping that this first iteration at Voila! will give us visibility and feedbacks to bring the project to the next level and secure a longer run in London!