The second edition of the festival which promotes the Italian language through theater will be held from 15 to 27 May:
nine performances in six different cities, classical and contemporary authors, texts by Catozzella, Di Pietrantonio,
Calvino, Mazzariol, Goldoni.
After the good success of the 2023 edition, which saw around 500 spectators including students and adults applauding the Italian-language theatrical shows in the canton of Fribourg, the “Books on the Scene” festival returns to the stages of Swiss schools and doubles its programming .
An extended duration (from next May 15th to 27th), nine performances in six cities involved (Fribourg, Bern, Liestal, Payerne, St. Gallen, Wetzikon), five guest titles, chosen by the Italian teachers from among the books read in class with the students, including three world premieres specifically produced for the Festival, with a prestigious representation of companies and theaters on the Italian scene. “The books on the scene” 2024 grows in form and content and offers some innovations to involve students and enthusiasts of Italian culture and language in a more conscious way. Starting with the subtitling of shows in French or German which makes it possible to reach an even greater number of people, further reducing the language gap. The Festival, which again this year is organized thanks to the support of the Federal Office of Culture UFC of the Swiss Confederation, won the tender for the promotion and diffusion of the Italian language and culture outside Italian-speaking Switzerland and is presented as lead body from the Collège de Gambach in Fribourg.
The program of the 2024 edition, drawn up under the artistic direction of the Italian director Paolo Bignamini and organized by the Teatro de Gli Incamminati, is inaugurated by the world premiere of “Don’t tell me you’re afraid”, a novel by Giuseppe Catozzella about the true story , tragic and heartbreaking, by Samia Yusuf Omar, a young athlete from Mogadishu who lost his life trying to reach Lampedusa in the shipwreck of a migrant boat. On stage Rosanna Sparapano, adapted and directed by Leda Kreider in a show produced by the Teatro de Gli Incamminati (performances on 15 May at the Gymnase Intercantonal De La Broye in Payerne, on 16 May at the Pfarrei Bruder Klaus in Liestal and on 17 May at the Kantonsschule Burggraben of St. Gallen).
Another world premiere, on 21 and 22 May, with “Arminuta – story of a fall”, based on the novel by Donatella Di Pietrantonio. Federica D’Angelo and Ksenija Martinovic put on a show on horseback
between reading and performance, a careful score that intertwines movements and sounds and which investigates the themes of family and the feminine by telling the story of a daughter “orphan of two mothers”. Teatro production of Gli Incamminati in collaboration with Incontroteatro of Palermo, appointment at the Gymnasium Köniz-Lerbermatt in Bern and at the Collège Sainte-Croix in Fribourg.
Also on May 22, the prestigious Aula Magna of the Université de Friborg will host “The path of the spider’s nests”, based on the famous novel by Italo Calvino, a journey of words and music that tells the partisan experience through the eyes of a child , beyond any rhetoric. The show is directed by Paolo Bignamini and performed by the histrionic Stefano Annoni, accompanied on the accordion by Katerina Haidukova. Nidodiragno production, in collaboration with the Teatro de Gli Incamminati.
Still a theater of narration on 23 and 24 May: “My brother chases the dinosaurs”, from the best-selling novel by Giacomo Mazzariol, has been successfully playing on stages throughout Italy for some years; thanks to the talent of Christian Di Domenico who, directed by Andrea Brunello, tells, with poetry and irony, the story of Giacomo and his brother Giovanni, born with Down syndrome. Arditodesìo production in Trento, performances at the Collège de Gambach in Freiburg and at the Kantonsschule Zürcher Oberland in Wetzikon.
Grand finale on May 27th at the Collège Saint-Michel in Friborg with the last preview of the Festival: “La Locandiera – A long play” is a real theatrical concert based on the successful comedy by Carlo Goldoni. Paolo Bignamini directs, in this unprecedented journey, a musical trio of excellence: the singer-songwriter Mille (Musicultura Critics Award 2021 and among the protagonists, in 2023 and 2024, of the Roman concert on May Day) and the duo La Scapigliatura (Targa Tenco in 2015 as best first work). The dramaturgy is by Giulia Asselta (Premio Giovanni Testori 2023), the production of the Centro Teatrale Bresciano.
Entrance to all performances is free while seats are available.
INFORMATION
www.ilibrisullascena.org
