In October 2024 Radar Sofia will welcome Christian Gallucci: a playwright and theatre maker based in Milan, Italy.

His works have been presented at major festivals and theatres. As a playwright, his play "The Secret Life of Plants" was a finalist for the Riccione Theatre Prize, Italy's most prestigious award for dramaturgy. In 2022, he was selected to participate in the Santa Cristina summer school, under the direction of Argentinean director Alejandro Tantanian.

Recently, Christian rediscovered his childhood passion for astronomy. This interest led to him being awarded the Culture Moves Europe mobility grant in 2024, allowing him to spend two weeks in Sofia working on his latest project, Observing the Night Sky. His artistic research often centers around the concept of time—not just as a space between words or actions, but as something invisible that must be brought to light. He views time as closely related to music, sound, and silence. His works consistently explore sound within the images and words used on stage.

Project
Observing the Night Sky is a dramaturgy project blending theatre and science, based on a fictitious astronomical event: the explosion of Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the constellation Orion, a red supergiant. The play’s characters—a writer, a couple, and a dying man—grapple with illness, broken relationships, artistic crises, and ultimately, the explosion of a star. The light from Betelgeuse becomes a metaphorical guide for finding answers in the present, avoiding past mistakes, and nurturing hope for the future, as long as humanity cares for life and the ever-renewing world.

During the residency, Christian will work on the first draft of the play and explore staging possibilities. He chose to collaborate with Radar Sofia, one of the few international hubs focused on contemporary dramaturgy and theatre-making. For him, traveling to Sofia offers a unique opportunity to connect with local artists, refine his research, and gain new perspectives in a city on the fringes of Europe—an experience that could reshape his understanding of art and, perhaps, life itself.