CHIARA D'ANNA

Actress, Director, Movement Director, Commedia dell'Arte Specialist



"Art possesses its own distinct language akin to the language of dreams: visceral, powerful and enigmatic.
It speaks through symbols, metaphors and allegories. That's why it can touch us on the deepest of levels.
This is what I aim for in my work." - Chiara D'Anna



Chiara D’Anna is an Italian director, actress, movement coach and Commedia dell'Arte specialist.


Born near Turin, she trained in Italy, Poland, and the UK, initially studying geology before moving on to Physical Theatre. Since then, her wide-ranging projects have spanned adaptations of plays and novels, theatre, site-specific immersive work, combined arts and multimedia performances, dance-theatre, opera, and films. Her productions have been praised for their originality, creativity, and outstanding visual power.



Recent directorial credits include co-directing with Iván Fischer Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme/Ariadne auf Naxos and the short film Brainland. Brainland was nominated for the Horizon Crystal Pine Award at the International Sound & Film Music Festival (ISFMF) 2024 and received the "Best Story" award at Toronto’s Experimental Film and Music Video Festival , as well as the "Special Jury Prize" at the 2024 Messina Film Festival: Opera & Cinema.


Her film career began in 2011 with her debut in Peter Strickland’s award-winning Berberian Sound Studio, followed by her co-lead role in The Duke of Burgundy, praised by The New York Times and The Guardian as a “superb” and "hypnotically compelling" performance. Her most recent film credit is the multi-award-winning Everyone is Going to Die (2024).


Renowned for her work in Commedia dell’Arte and Physical Theatre, Chiara teaches at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Goldsmiths College in London, and at the Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.



★★★★

Chiara D’Anna looks like she stepped out of a Fellini film; she’s just perfect!



(The Duke of Burgundy)



The Front Row - BBC Radio 4



★★★★

At once imperious and tremendously mock-kitten.



(The Duke of Burgundy)



The Observer



★★★★

Witty and playful, D’Anna is a delight as a performer.



(Don't You Dare!)



The Stage



★★★★

Knudsen and D’Anna are both terrific, and have trembling palpable chemistry.



(The Duke of Burgundy)



The Telegraph



★★★★★

Superb performances…the Best Film of the first quarter of 2015.



(The Duke of Burgundy)



The New York Times



★★★★

Charismatic and enthralling, D'Anna is a chameleon displaying exquisite acting skills.



(Don't You Dare!)



Broadway World UK



Chiara D'Anna | Director



★★★★

We are manipulated with ease by an intuitive company whose physical work is superb.



(Rocinante! Rocinante!)



Time Out



★★★★

Brainland, directed by Chiara D’Anna, is a cinematic masterpiece.



(Brainland)



Festival Review





Everything Fischer and D'Anna do reveals a precise knowledge of the forms and history of the theatre.



(Ariadne auf Naxos/Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme)



The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung



★★★★

Writer-director Chiara D’Anna uses the commedia dell’arte to explore how anti-woman propaganda is part of a continuum: different century, the same shit!



(Don't You Dare!)



The Stage



★★★★

Imaginative and engaging, with a compelling and twisting narrative that will make an audience both laugh and cry.



(Don Quixote! Edinburgh Fringe Festival)



A Younger Theatre



★★★★

A history lesson that transcends space and time.



(Don't You Dare!)



Broadway World UK



★★★★

The cast of seven take us on a journey that is always thought provoking and at times quite unsettling.



(Rocinante! Rocinante!)



The Public Review



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