From February 25th to March 4th the Teatrostudio of LAC Lugano Art and Culture hosts the world premiere of Common land, a new creation by Trickster-p. This debut consolidates a multi-year collaboration between the Ticino company and the Lugano institution, which has continuously supported its artistic journey in recent years.

Founded by Cristina Galbiati and Ilija Luginbühl, Trickster-p has built over time a research recognizable by formal rigor and attention to the experiential dimension. After nettles (2018) Book is a Book is a Book (2020) Eutopia (2022) and The Game (2024), the new work continues an investigation focused on the relationship between spectator, space and performance device.

A landscape to inhabit without moving

With Common landTrickster-p offers an immersive environment inspired by mycelial networks, underground systems that connect roots and organisms in a dense web of exchanges. The image of the so-called "Wood Wide Web" becomes a dramatic matrix here: a reticular structure in which each element interacts with the others, without obvious hierarchies.

The audience, while remaining physically still, is invited to explore the landscape with their eyes and ears. Each perspective opens up new trajectories, generating an experience that builds through layers. Time and space are not stable coordinates but dynamic fields, traversed by human and non-human presences.

The company reiterates a principle that runs through its entire production: the spectator is not a passive observer, but an active presence around which the artistic process is organized. This isn't a prescriptively guided participation, but rather a freedom inscribed in a precisely designed device.

Between sound, word and atmosphere

The central element of the creation is the sound space signed by Zeno GabaglioThe composition alternates concrete, recognizable sounds with more abstract textures, suggesting a dilated temporal dimension. The spoken word—live or recorded, human or artificial—is intertwined with the sonic material, helping to guide the experience without imposing a univocal narrative.

In this balance between openness and control, Trickster-p works on the boundary between aesthetics and participation. Aesthetics, understood not as ornamentation but as sensorial activation, remains an essential element. The device welcomes the audience's input, but does not abandon its own formal coherence.

A production… online

Common land It was born from a dense network of collaborations that reflects Trickster-p's international reach. In addition to the founders, the project involves Maria Da Silva and Jovana Malinarić for artistic collaboration, Gabriella Sacco for vocals, Ettore Lombardi for styling, Giorgio Zeno Graf for illustrations, Studio CCRZ for the graphic concept, and Mauro Danesi for consulting and development.

The production is by Trickster-p and LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura, in co-production with Theater Casino Zug, Theater Stadelhofen, ROXY Birsfelden, TAK Theater Liechtenstein, and FOG Triennale Milano Teatro, in collaboration with Postremise Chur. The project is supported by Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, DECS Repubblica e Cantone Ticino – Fondo Swisslos, the City of Lugano, the Municipality of Novazzano, and numerous public and private foundations, including Migros-Kulturprozent, Landis & Gyr Foundation, GKB Beitragsfonds, Stiftung Dr. Valentin Malamoud, and the Fonds culturel de la Société Suisse des Auteurs.

This system of co-productions and support highlights Trickster-p's role within the Swiss and European theatre scene: a company capable of combining local roots with international openness.

From the Lugano debut to the European tour

After the world premiere at the LAC, Common land will continue its journey at FOG Triennale Milano Teatro (10–12 April), Operaestate Festival Bmotion in Bassano del Grappa (28–30 August), Insolito Festival Parma (16–10 October), Postremise Chur (18–21 November), ROXY Birsfelden (25–29 November), Theater Stadelhofen Zurich (2–5 December), TAK Theater Liechtenstein in Schaan (7–11 March 2027) and Theater Casino Zug (31 May–4 June 2027). Further dates are being defined.

Awarded the Swiss Theatre Prize in 2017, Trickster-p confirms a coherent trajectory with this new creation: exploring unconventional formats, questioning the relationship between art and the public, building spaces in which experience is generated by encounters.

At the LAC, the company thus offers a common ground to inhabit and interrogate. An invitation to slow down and listen, allowing relationships—as in an underground network—to shape meaning.

2025-2026 Culture Scholarships: Over 84 Swiss francs awarded to 32 Ticino students