Below is a statement released by the organizers:
A theater of the absurd built around the condition of waiting. This is the central theme of WAITING, the wise show of the Theater Laboratory of the Liceo Classico e Musicale “G. Palmieri” in Lecce which, after the two performances on 3 and 4 May last at the Cantieri Teatrali Koreja, Thursday 9 May at 6pm arrives at the Mercadante Theater in Altamura (Ba) as part of the XXIX INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF CLASSICAL SCHOOL THEATER.
The event, which has been taking place for 29 years now, is organized by the “Cagnazzi” State High School of Altamura (Ba) and represents a particularly important and significant moment for the entire Apulian territory: an opportunity for students and teachers from schools in Italy and Europe to exchange experiences, practices and stories.
Freely taken from Waiting Godot the play by Samuel Beckett, the show sees the very young students on stage: Chiara AlibertiMaria Cristina Barletta, Giuliano Bomba, Alessandro Congedo, Valerio Corso, Nina Costa, Alessio De Giuseppe, Margherita De ReghzyGinevra Esposito, Giulia Ferrari, Gaia Fiorentino, Chrislyn Fortunate JoyStar FranceAntonio Grasso, Sergio GullMaria Luisa LanzilaoGabriella Luperto, Niccolò Martella, Stefano M. Mazzotta, Noemi MonteveroPeter NemolaVittoria Neri, Martina Nuzzo, Elisa Pantaleo, Federica Rella, Serena Rizzo, Vittoria Rizzo, Maria Beatrice Ruppi, Pierluigi Russo, Andrea Scarantino TorregrossaMaria Luna SchitoGiulia Sciarra, Pietro Angelo Tramacere, Cristina Zecca directed by Carlo Durante And Andjelka Vulic Koreja actors and pedagogues. We thank the Headmaster Prof.ssa Loredana Di Cuonzo and the project tutor Prof Daniela Capozza.
“It is with pride that we can announce this year too – underlines the Director of the Palmieri High School, Prof Loredana Di Cuonzo – that the group of students involved in the theater laboratory of our high school, thanks to the guides of Koreja, Carlo Durante and Andjelka Vulicthey managed to present an exceptional result of their work which is a clear demonstration of their creative availability in staging a “classic” of contemporary drama like Waiting Godot, telling about themselves and their vision of the world. The challenge they chose to undertake on stage was arduous but very successful because, for many of them, it comes to the completion of a brilliant scholastic and theatrical journey that lasted five years.”
To welcome the public on stage there are shoes of all kinds and sizes. Like Estragon and Vladimir, the pupils-actors-students are on the road of life which momentarily sees them stopped in the high school of their city, waiting to mature, waiting for someone or something to show them the way.
In the meantime they are looking for a place among others, they are looking for their passion or a sign that will direct them in their studies. They are looking for the right shoe to be comfortable and feel like themselves.
While Fausto Coppi won the Tour of Italy for the fifth time, Elizabeth II was crowned Queen of England, Elvis recorded his first single, DNA was discovered and he made his debut in Paris En Attendant Godot by Samuel Beckett. Work born in French then translated by the same author into English with the title Waiting for Godot, for us Italians Waiting Godot.
Today, especially for those who do theatre, it is impossible to dissociate the verb wait for from this mid-twentieth century work.
“Our work “Waiting…” respects Beckett’s post-war scenario, on the stage a single tree made of old rusty iron rods and at its feet a man on a chair: perhaps the director, perhaps the soul of the tree or perhaps Beckett himself. It is he who tries to move the stage machine and direct the thirty boys who follow each other through choruses, dialogues, dances, serious moments and absurd moments. In a text that seems to go nowhere and that often follows itself, the students’ reflections emerge until the question arrives: is it better to wait or go?”
