Alessandro Ienzi

Theatre Director, Playwright, Actor and Interdisciplinary Artist

Alessandro Ienzi (Palermo, 24 March 1987) is an Italian theatre director, playwright, actor and interdisciplinary artist whose work explores new forms of theatrical language at the intersection of contemporary dramaturgy, physical performance, visual arts and social reality. A human rights lawyer by training and the founder of Raizes, he has developed an artistic practice that challenges conventional boundaries between theatre and other disciplines, between the stage and public space, and between artistic representation and lived experience.

At the heart of Ienzi’s work is a distinctive investigation into the grammar of theatre: how bodies produce meaning, how images can become dramaturgy, how individual stories can be transformed into collective narratives, and how performance can generate new ways of perceiving reality. His productions bring together movement, text, visual composition, multimedia and documentary material, developing a theatrical language in which the relationship between performers, space and audience becomes an integral part of the dramaturgical construction. Rather than treating theatre as the mere representation of a story, Ienzi approaches it as a process of composition, confrontation and transformation, continually questioning the forms through which stories are told and experienced.

His artistic vision extends beyond the conventional boundaries of the theatre building. Through site-responsive projects, public interventions and collaborations with cultural institutions, Ienzi explores how art can transform the spaces people inhabit, creating new relationships between performance, architecture, urban life and collective imagination. His collaboration with the Teatro Massimo in Palermo focuses on the potential of art to reshape public space, rethinking the relationship between the city’s cultural heritage, its inhabitants and the places they share. In this perspective, the city itself becomes a possible theatrical landscape, and public space an active component of artistic creation.

Ienzi’s approach is informed by a combination of artistic experimentation, international cultural exchange and a sustained interest in the political and social dimensions of human experience. Human rights, migration, childhood, freedom of thought, gender equality and the climate crisis are recurring subjects in his work, but they are explored through a primarily artistic investigation into bodies, voices, memories and relationships. His theatre seeks not simply to communicate a message, but to construct experiences in which audiences are invited to encounter realities from unfamiliar perspectives.

After studying International Relations and the International Protection of Human Rights at the Società Italiana per l’Organizzazione Internazionale in Rome, Ienzi graduated in acting and theatre directing from the Teatro Biondo School of Theatre in Palermo. He continued his acting studies at Stella Adler Los Angeles and specialized in digital filmmaking at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He also specialized in Public Diplomacy at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and in the protection of human rights through the arts at the Global Campus of Human Rights. This interdisciplinary background informs his ability to move between theatrical composition, audiovisual storytelling, institutional dialogue and international cultural production.

In 2020, he founded Raizes, an international cultural organization through which he develops original theatre productions, video and photographic exhibitions, and artistic and educational programmes. Raizes provides a framework for his ongoing research into the relationship between artistic creation and participation, bringing together young artists and communities whose experiences are often underrepresented in cultural production. Its workshops and international projects connect artistic training with the development of original work, allowing performers from different cultural and geographical backgrounds to contribute to a shared creative process.

Among his productions, Unchilded exemplifies his exploration of theatre as a space in which the body, voice and visual composition can give form to experiences that are often marginalized in public discourse. Addressing childhood and the realities of young people, the work combines artistic expression with a reflection on human dignity, visibility and the right to be heard. Its presentation at the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 15 September 2024 brought contemporary theatre into the institutional setting of the United Nations, extending the production’s reach beyond conventional performance venues. Ienzi also presented Unchilded in the context of his engagement with the United Nations human rights system, including an intervention at the Human Rights Council. The project reflects his interest in expanding the contexts in which theatre can operate and in establishing new encounters between artistic experimentation and international public debate.

His work with major cultural and civic events also includes Rosalia – Unione dei Popoli, which he directed for the 400th edition of Palermo’s traditional Festino di Santa Rosalia. Through a vision centred on the encounter of peoples and cultures, the production brought artistic creation into dialogue with the city’s collective identity, exploring the capacity of performance to transform a shared cultural celebration into a space for contemporary expression and intercultural exchange.

Ienzi’s artistic practice has developed alongside a significant international presence. He opened the Fundamental Rights Forum in 2021 and 2024 and the World Congress on Justice for Children, bringing artistic perspectives into international discussions on rights, justice and social transformation. On Human Rights Day 2024, he met Pope Francis in the context of initiatives dedicated to human dignity and human rights.

In 2020, he received recognition at the International Human Rights Art Festival in New York. His work and initiatives have subsequently engaged with international institutions and academic organizations, including the European Parliament, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Columbia University, the Council of Europe, the European Union Human Rights Forum, IOM Egypt and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

His productions have been presented in Senegal, Egypt, Nepal, Malta, Spain, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States. Across these contexts, his work investigates the possibility of creating a shared theatrical language without erasing the cultural and personal differences of its performers. The international dimension of his practice is therefore not simply a matter of geographical circulation, but an integral part of his artistic method: a continuous encounter between different bodies, histories, languages and ways of inhabiting the world.

In 2025, Ienzi created and directed Together We Thrive, a year-long programme implemented in Cairo in cooperation with IOM Egypt. Bringing together more than 100 artists under the age of 30 from Egypt and other countries, particularly young refugees, the programme used artistic practice as a means of expression, collaboration and social connection. The initiative extended his research into participatory creation, exploring how collective artistic processes can generate new forms of visibility and belonging.

That same year, he directed Barcelona Mundo, a cultural programme dedicated to human rights that ran in Barcelona until 10 December 2025, and I Ragazzi di Ballarò, a year-long initiative in Sicily engaging young people through artistic and participatory activities addressing healthy lifestyles, drug use and drug trafficking. Alongside his artistic practice, he works as a communication specialist in northern Nigeria, supporting initiatives that encourage young people to use art and creative expression to counter violence and terrorism and to promote peaceful alternatives.

In recognition of his commitment to peace, human rights and youth empowerment across the Mediterranean and internationally, he received the Mediterranean Award 2025 from the Junta de Andalucía and the UNETCHAT Award 2025 from the UNETCHAT university network.

Alessandro Ienzi’s work is driven by the conviction that theatre remains an open and evolving artistic form, capable of reinventing its own language and expanding its relationship with the world. By bringing together dramaturgy, physical expression, visual composition, multimedia and public space, he develops projects in which artistic form is inseparable from the questions being explored. His practice moves between intimate human experience and collective narratives, between the theatrical stage and the urban landscape, between artistic autonomy and civic engagement.

For Ienzi, innovation does not consist simply in introducing new technologies or combining different disciplines. It lies in rethinking the very conditions of theatrical expression: what can become a stage, what can constitute a dramaturgy, whose stories can enter the performance, and how an artistic experience can alter the way people see one another and the spaces they share. It is through this continuing investigation that his work seeks to contribute to the evolution of contemporary theatre.