Bologna, 16 May 2024- Stefano Sabelli goes on stage tonight and tomorrow at the Teatri di vita with ‘Children of Abraham‘, an adaptation of ‘Abrahams Barn’ by Svein Tindberg, a Norwegian actor-playwright from Det Norske Teatret in Oslo. “In Norway it has become a blockbuster of narrative theatre, I adapted it to my personal experience in Jerusalem – explains Sabelli – I was also looking for something to pay homage to my brother who was an archaeologist in Palestine for over 25 years.” The show, produced by Teatrimolisani’s Teatro del Loto directed by Gianluca Iumiento and video projections by Kezia Terracciano, will also have live music by Manuel Petti, Marco Molino, Irene Apollonio, Daniele Giradina, Lorenzo Mastrogiuseppe. The text, a sort of ‘funny mystery’ on the life of Abraham, traces the entire life of this historical figure, and in doing so clearly investigates the origins of the three largest monotheistic confessions: the Jewish, the Muslim and the Christian. Sabelli, talking about a figure like Abraham, so important for an area that is currently very delicate, is a topic that is currently more relevant than ever… Yes, it’s true, but I wrote the show two years ago now, and I haven’t changed it following the events of October 7th. What I bring on stage is more of a real travel diary that starts from Ur of the Chaldees, the oldest city in the world where Abraham was born, and reaches the present day, with everything that is happening today also in terms of divisions. The show ends in the Palestinian city of Hebron, where there is the tomb of the patriarchs (therefore of Abraham and his entire family), in theory shared by all three great monotheistic religions but which – being in the West Bank – lives everything that is happening today What message does it want to convey? My main objective is to highlight the affinity of cultures that are always thought to be very different. In reality this is not the case, they are very close even if there are clearly differences. The dome of the Rock for example, the place from which the whole journey starts, contains the foundation stone, which is the ascension of Muhammad, but also the top of Mount Moriah where Abraham had to make the sacrifice of Isaac. Among other things, I always joke about the fact that Jerusalem is a sort of place ‘full of rocks for ascensionist prophets’ (taking up the book The Rocks of Jerusalem) because on the Via Dolorosa there is also that of the ascension of Jesus of Nazareth. What I would like to make clear is that all the great monotheisms tell the story of Abraham on their own faith, when it is instead common to all three. In fact, you use irony very often: is it just a theatrical or content tool? It has a theatrical but also understanding meaning, because with irony much more historical, geographical and even faith evidence can be highlighted. The similarities between the three confessions are better understood and become much clearer. Then of course they are jokes all spoken with great respect. I think it’s the strong point of the show, which becomes a funny mystery, and it’s not that Dario Fo’s funny mystery was an irreverent text, quite the opposite in fact.
