Modica – The theater show “Irene of Boston” arrives at the Garibaldi Theater in Modica, a surreal dialogue between Corto Maltese and Irene, a sailing ship with a famous past that has long been stranded on the beach of Pozzallo. Friday 3 May at 9.00 pm, with the texts and voice of Marco Steiner, the paintings of Giovanni Robustelli and the music of Francesco Cafiso on sax and Mauro Schiavone on piano, we will set off on a new adventure, towards unknown routes, among the waves of a sea halfway between dream and reality. A journey through music, drawings and words, starring Irene of Boston, a British boat from the early twentieth century, and Corto Maltese, a disillusioned castaway who arrives on the same Sicilian beach where the boat is stranded. An emotional and poetic story about the ability to start over despite the difficulties encountered. This narrative was born from a collective project a few years ago and is also found in the pages of Marco Steiner’s recently published book entitled “Corto Maltese and Irene of Boston – The story of an almost impossible date” (published by Cong).
“What remains when everything seems over? This is how this story begins – explains the author Marco Steiner – Irene of Boston is a sailing ship with a glorious past, but languishes stranded and injured on the beach of Pozzallo, Corto Maltese is the hero of the journey and the adventure, but its creator, Hugo Pratt is no more. So what’s left? What remains is the imagination that creates a vision and the strength to continue traveling thanks to this poetic fable. The show is a conversation about the power of art to keep the dream alive.” Steiner’s words are joined on the stage of the Modica theater by the paintings of Giovanni Robustelli, who explains: “Since Steiner took the helm of the wreck Irene of Boston in 2014, stranded on the “balata” of Pozzallo, a heterogeneous crew has joined to him to explore the routes of the imagination. Irene, protagonist of a living story, free from conventions, in continuous metamorphosis, will materialize on the stage of the Garibaldi Theater in Modica, and will give not only the spectators, but also the performers themselves, other breezes, new currents to follow. Irene is truly a boat with which you can set sail at any time towards the seas of experimentation”. The sailing ship Irene was also a muse for the saxophonist Francesco Cafiso who a few years ago, involved in the collective project with Steiner and Robustelli themselves, published an album entitled “Irene of Boston”.
“I am thrilled – explains Cafiso – to bring Irene back once again into the sea of fantasy together with a crew made up of people I respect a lot and with whom over the years I have shared ideas and dreams that have become a splendid reality. A new adventure awaits us because the Irene of Boston is more alive than ever!”. Even encounters that seem impossible can take place thanks to imagination and creativity, so the protagonists of this show will set sail, together with the spectators, towards a navigation that will overcome space and time to explore new horizons.
“The meeting between Corto Maltese and Irene of Boston on the stage of our Theater will be a very engaging experience for our audience” – comment the president of the Garibaldi Theater Foundation Maria Monisteri and the superintendent Tonino Cannata – The words of Marco Steiner, the drawings by Giovanni Robustelli and the notes of Francesco Cafiso’s sax and Mauro Schiavone’s piano will intertwine in this dreamlike tale full of suggestions, offering a unique show”. For any other information you can consult the social pages of the Fondazione Teatro Garibaldi of Modica, the website www.fondazioneteatrogaribaldi.it (where the ticket office is active) or call 0932/946991.
