(via Emily Owens)
The 11th annual In Scena! Italian Theater Festival, NYC’s premiere festival of Italian theater taking place in all five boroughs of NYC, April 29-May 13. Performances will take place at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU (24 West 12th Street New York, NY 10011-8604), Casa Belvedere (79 Howard Ave, Staten Island, NY 10301), Culture Lab LIC (5-25 46th Ave, Queens, NY 11101), Center For Italian Modern Art (421 Broome St 4th floor, New York, NY 10013), The Brick Aux (628 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211), The Atelier at Theaterlab (357 W 36th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10018), BAAD (2474 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY 10461), NOoSPHERE Arts (520 Kingsland Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222), and Playwrights Downtown (440 Lafayette St 4th floor, New York, NY 10003).
All shows will be performed in Italian with projected English supertitles.
THE GENESIS OF REGENERATION (GENESI DEL RIGENERO)
Written & Performed by Beppe Allocca
Directed by Beppe Allocca and Roberta Provenzani
An exhilarating storytelling that through biblical stories, fashion writers and artisans tells the origins of the rag-pickers (cenciaioli), the artisans from Prato (Tuscany) who have been recycling used clothing since 1850.
Tue 4/30 at 7pm @ Casa Belvedere, Sun 5/5 at 7:30pm @ Culture Lab LIC & Fri 5/10 at 8pm @ Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo Running Time: 65 min
SCIARA – PRIMA C’AGGHIORNA
Written by Luana Rondinelli, Directed by Giovanni Carta
Performed by Luana Rondinelli and I Musicanti (Gregorio Caimi – chitarra, Enzo Toscano – violoncello, Debora Messina – singer)
Produced by I Musicanti
The compelling human and judicial story of Francesca Serio, the first woman to denounce the mafia and mother of Salvatore Carnevale, the trade unionist barbarously killed by the mafia on May 16, 1955.
Wed 5/1 at 7pm @ Center for Italian Modern Art & Fri 5/3 at 8pm @ Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU Running Time: 73 min
THE GREAT MAGIC (LA GRANDE MAGIA)
Adapted from the original play by Eduardo De Filippo and directed by Rosario Sparno
Performed by Luca Iervolino, Antonella Romano & Rosario Sparno
Costumes by Alessandra Gaudioso, Magic Tricks Coach Massimiliano Foà
Produced by Casa del Contemporaneo
“Everything that happens before your eyes is just an illusion” On the 40th anniversary of one of the most important Italian playwrights Eduardo De Filippo’s death, Rosario Sparno presents his own adaptation for only three actors of “The Great Magic”, the 1948 wonderful play by De Filippo about theatrical illusion and obsessional delusion.
Thu 5/2 at 7pm @ Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU & Sat 5/4 at 7:30pm @ Culture Lab LIC Running time: 66 min
HELP WANTED – SINGLE FEMINIST MOTHER OF A TEENAGE BOY LOOKS FOR SUPPORT (AAA CERCASI SOSTEGNO PER MADRE SINGLE E FEMMINISTA CON FIGLIO MASCHIO E ADOLESCENTE)
Written & Performed by Monica Faggiani
Using the Stand-up style, the protagonist tells her story and her challenges as a feminist and as a mother of a teenage son.
Sat 4/27 at Villa Charities in Toronto, Fri 5/3 at 6pm @ Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU & Sat 5/4 at 2pm @ The Brick Aux Running Time: 70 min
LIKE A LITTLE GRAIN OF SAND (COME UN GRANELLO DI SABBIA)
Written & Directed by Salvatore Arena and Massimo Barilla
Performed by Salvatore Arena
Set Design by Aldo Zucco, Original Music by Luigi Polimeni
Lighting Design by Stefano Barbagallo
Historical Consultants Giuseppe Gullotta & Nicola Biondo
Produced by Mana Chuma Teatro
At the age of 18, Giuseppe Gulotta is forced to confess to the murder of two policemen in a small barracks in Alcamo. The crime hides an unspeakable mystery: statesmen who deal with neo-fascist groups, arms trafficking and drugs. In order to cover up the silence, any scapegoat would do. Through the “human” story of Giuseppe (but also those of Salvatore and Carmine – the other designated scapegoats) the play attempts to give justice to its personal dimension, that of a life nearly entirely taken away for dreadful reasons. The performance is the last chapter of the quadrilogy A Sud della Memoria that Mana Chuma has devoted to the contemporary history of Southern Italy.
Mon 5/6 at 8pm @ Theaterlab & Fri 5/10 at 6pm @ Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU Running Time: 65 min
OPERA BUFFA!
By and With Maria Cassi and Leonardo Brizzi
Produced by Compagnia Maria Cassi
Presented by Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU
Small “musical” jokes through musical gags, catchphrases, human and non-human tics, passing through musical arrangements ranging from jazz to classical and popular music. An almost mimed performance, as per Maria Cassi’s tradition, assisted for the occasion at the piano by Maestro Brizzi.
Tue 5/7 at 7pm @ Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU
THE VISIT (IL COLLOQUIO)
Written & Directed by Edoardo Di Pietro
Performed by Renato Bisogni, Alessandro Errico, Marco Montecatino
Assistant Director Ceciclia Lupoli, Costume Design by Federica Del Gaudio
Organization Martina Di Leva
Produced by Collettivo lunAzione
The visit is inspired by the admission system for weekly meetings with inmates at the Poggioreale prison in Naples. The tragicomic show presents situations experienced by women queuing to enter prison: a perpetual wait in daring and tense conditions, which outlines a symbolic humanity, crushed by the apparent impossibility of change. The actors were an integral part of the creative phase through a stage writing process and by participating in a series of interviews with women who have experienced or are experiencing deep ties with the penal institution.
Wed 5/8 at 8pm @ Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU & Thu 5/9 at 7:30pm @ BAAD Running Time: 60 min
PERSONA METROPOLITANA
Written by Annachiara Vispi & Giulia Macrì
Performed by Valentina Ghelfi and Giulia Macrì
Music & Composition Lorenzo Saini
Presented in collaboration with Dominio Pubblico
This is Giulia. Like 55% of us, Giulia lives in a city. It is predicted that by 2050, almost 70% of us will live in a city – two thirds of the people on the planet. Giulia wonders if we’ll all fit. Giulia doubts it. A piece for an actor and a dancer set on an imaginary Rome metro carriage / Paris RER line / New York subway / seat on the Tube / last Dart home. In cities we feel invisible, Giulia thinks. Or free.
Sat 5/11 at 6pm @ NOoSPHERE Arts & Sun 5/12 at 3pm @ Playwrights Downtown Running Time: 60 min
THE SECOND COMING OF JOAN OF ARC (GIOVANNA D’ARCO – La rivolta)
Written by Carolyn Cage, Translated by Edy Quaggio
Directed by Ester Tatangelo and Luchino Giordana
Performed by Valentina Valsania
Assistant Director Giulia Cosentino, Music by Arturo Annecchino
Lighting Designer Diego Laboni, Set Design by Francesco Ghisu
Costume Design by Ilaria Capanna
Produced by Hermit Crab Production
Giovanna returns to share her story with contemporary women, unmasking through documents the misogyny of the male leaders of the Church, State and Army. A teenager fleeing from a violent and alcoholic father, from a destiny of wife and mother, which had already marked her mother and sister. Giovanna dies for the right to wear men’s clothes, she is a rebel, irreverent, more cunning than her judges, unrepentant and unswervingly faithful to her own vision.
Sat 5/11 at 8:30pm @ NOoSPHERE Arts & Sun 5/12 at 8pm @ Theaterlab
Running Time: 75 min
