From Edoardo Erba’s ‘Porco’ Hangs a Tale of Torture

What’s that strange thing hanging from the ceiling?

The title of Edoardo Erba’s black comedy is “Porco Selvatico” (“Wild Boar”), but the hamstrung captive in the ominous coffee shop is not an animal but a person. “A man happens to enter the wrong cafe at the wrong time,” said Paul Verdier, the artistic director who’s staging the world premiere at Stages, his Hollywood theater. “It’s about perceptions, what we really see, not to trust appearances, who is who, and who’s doing what to whom.”

Erba, 36, who has come from his native Italy for a six-week residence at Stages, cites a story he read about torture in Turkey as the impetus for the piece. “My idea was to write something about torture and against torture,” he explained. “But in my work, I discover torture is something that belongs to all human beings--and to me too. And so the work is not really against torture, but about torture.

“Everything that happens in the world also happens inside us,” he said. “I used to always identify with the victims of torture, and never with the man who tortures. But if you write, you must open your mind to the two roles. The man who tortures is something very dangerous, but it shows you the sinister side of your soul. If you want to avoid war, you must feel the enemy in you. If you only feel the friend, nothing happens; you have the enemy outside yourself.”

Erba’s words are serious and thoughtful, but his manner is anything but daunting. His dark eyes dance with humor recalling that his first attempt at lyric-writing was prompted by “being very, very young with many problems. I was not too good in sports or music, and I needed something to show off for the girls.” He went on to receive a master’s in literature from the University of Pavia and a diploma in dramaturgy from the Piccolo Teatro drama school in Milan.

After post-college detours into teaching and publicity, Erba established a career writing for Italian television; his film treatment for “Fragile” was a 1989 prizewinner at Cannes. “Theater was sacrificed a little for three or four years,” he said. “But now it’s possible for me to have two types of activities. I don’t write every day for television. I try to concentrate on the work: for example, in one month, working a lot--14 hours a day--then the other month is completely free.”

Verdier, who was introduced to Erba in Italy last summer by actor-playwright Dario d’Ambrosi (whom Verdier had earlier showcased at Stages), is especially enjoying the writer’s on-site input.

“To have him here to discuss things with the actors, ask him questions, brainstorm--it’s such a luxury,” he said. “I feel very strongly that his is a new voice.” Although most of their energies are now focused on “Porco” (which Verdier hopes to open in late January), the two are also collaborating on Erba’s one-act “The Night of Picasso,” which--presented with a pair of his short stories--will have its English-language premiere Jan. 10 at Stages.

The 45-minute “Picasso” is set in a psychiatric hospital, where two young patients have decided to make a movie--and have spent the previous two years obsessing over the same scene. Said Erba, “It’s a funny and tragic play about creative work, the relationship of the men, and how creativity works with madness.”

The writer (whose other plays include “Radical Obstruction,” “Hot Fables,” “The Hanging One,” “Gugliema” and “Freedom”) is intrigued by the prospect of seeing his plays in English. “A translation is always a translation; something is lost,” he noted. “But it’s very exciting to listen to another type of music with your own ideas and your own lines. I like a lot the actors of Stages, the direction of Paul. It is different from my original idea, but I like. I like change. I like being surprised by things.”

“The Night of Picasso” opens Jan. 10 at Stages, 1540 N. McCadden Place in Hollywood, playing Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m., indefinitely. Tickets: $12-$15. (213) 465-1010.