The Cherry Lane Theatre’s Mentor Project will present a new play about the late Italian actress Anna Magnani, Mamma Roma, written and performed by Anne DeSalvo, from April 3 to 14 at Cherry Lane Studio Theatre. Rob Urbinati will direct. David Rambo has been Ms. DeSalvo’s mentor for the play.
Mamma Roma is a solo show about the earthy and unkempt Italian actress Anna Magnani, whose notable career achievements include earning the Best Actress Oscar for The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams and starring in his film The Fugitive Kind. Magnani radiated with a fierce intelligence, uniqueness and sensuality, but lacked the bombshell good looks of her contemporaries. She came to epitomize Italy’s Neo Realism movement and transcended it with an exceptional rawness, depth and honesty.
Mamma Roma concludes the 13th season of Mentor Project, Cherry Lane Theatre’s award-winning program that each year pairs leading dramatists with emerging writers for a full season of script development, casting, rehearsals and a showcase production of the mentored playwrights’ works in the Studio Theatre.
DeSalvo, a visual artist, writer, director and producer, is best known for her work as an actress. Her credits include The Nature and Purpose of the Universe, The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie, Gemini, and Safe Sex, among many others.
