In the second of our two-part interview, internationally acclaimed, Italian cabaret artist Anita Luna, who brings her award-winning one-woman show THE DIVA to London’s Drayton Arms Theatre this week from 17 to 19 March 2022, answers questions from the audience. Time to get booking!
Anita Luna The Diva
Today I’m going to share with you the most common questions I get asked by the audience at my one-woman show Anita Luna THE DIVA.
You have to know that each time I finish the show, I really love to share some time and good glasses of wine (preferably Sauvignon!) with the audience. They are always so curious and they ask me many, many questions. And I’m more than happy to answer them.
And sometimes, through their questions, I even discover something new about my art. They fill me with their enthusiasm and love, I’m very grateful so I’d like to thank them and dedicate this article to my past and future audience. I think that everyone has the audience they deserve. My audience is absolutely brave, and they are as crazy as me.
So let’s go right to their questions.
It’s impressive the self-confidence you exude on stage. How did you get it?
I’ve been working on it for a f**king long, long time. I think the lack of confidence is a big issue for lots of people. It’s a f**king poison in life. I was sick of being a victim. I started meditating every day in 2015 and practicing disciplines like tai-chi and yoga that help you focus on yourself. I started working hard on myself. This is the only way to get self-confidence, no one else but you can do it. But believe me, it’s worth it because it’s a new way of living; you can have a lot of fun with your new self.
Anita Luna THE DIVA. © Lidia Crisafulli
You seem so comfortable in your nudity on stage. How do you do it?
I feel so good when I’m naked. We were all born naked. Come on, it’s our natural state. For me, to begin the show naked, it’s something that releases my body and soul. I leave all stress and anxiety behind and really feel focused. It’s a shot of adrenalin. I really love it. I can feel the surprise from the audience, and I really love to surprise people in life and on stage.
The metamorphosis from tomboy to Anita Luna THE DIVA, was this really your childhood? Is your father really so expressive?
Well, the show is part real, part fiction. The childhood part really happened. Some events I really remember well, some are blurred. The birth of THE DIVA instead is the birth of the myth, of my alter-ego Anita Luna. It’s about my magical relationship with the moon. I’m a Cancer you know, the Moon is my planet and I’m totally connected to it.
Alfonso is really my daddy’s real name. When I was sad, he used to burp to make me laugh. I would start laughing immediately and say “more, more, more”.
Anita Luna THE DIVA. © Lidia Crisafulli
Your show is so unique and original. How did you create it?
It was a long journey. I started working with Jango Edwards, my master of clown and co-director, from 2014 when we met in Paris. I immediately fell in love with the art of clown. It’s a very subtle, fine art. It’s the art of the HeArt. At that time, I was working in Italy on my first solo performance Leap into the Void, a sort of representation of my life from birth to death, part real, part fantasy. So we started from this show; we can now say it was the pilot episode of Anita Luna THE DIVA.
I simply kept practicing improvisation and worked with Jango all around the world, testing scenes from Anita Luna THE DIVA, experimenting in front of different audiences. I finally presented the whole show in Rome in 2016. My one-woman show is the result of a big personal artistic path. It’s always in evolution. The show you saw yesterday is not going to be the same as tomorrow’s. You can watch it many times, you’ll never get bored.
Can I offer you something to drink?
Oh sure, Sauvignon, please. Cheers!
