PISA – The curtain falls on the 2024 edition of the “Pisa Scotto Festival“, whose Review ended in recent days with the third appointment dedicated to anniversaries (in this case the 700th anniversary of his death) of historical figures who had anything to do with the city of Pisa in their existence, so that “having the honor” of concluding the event was the Venetian traveler Marco Poloso much so that the title of the meeting was “Remembering Marco Polo: 700 Years of Travel“.
by Giovanni Manenti
Here, therefore, is the profile of Marco Polo being discussed on stage – whose connection with our city is all too well known, deriving from the relationship with Rustichello da Pisa to whom the Venetian traveler dictated, while they were in the prisons of San Giorgio in Genoa , what later became famous as “Il Milione” – introduced by the two presenters Elisa Bani and Francesca Petrucci, They were Federico Meini who, with skilful diction much appreciated by the audience present, read some passages from the aforementioned work, the actor Francis Gerardi, who brought the play “The Silk Cell, Marco Polo and I“, in which he plays the role of Rustichello da Pisa and, finally, the Pisan motorbike traveller Michele Biniwho focused on the meaning of undertaking trips to still partly unexplored territories nowadays, just think that his last one, a few months ago, even took him to Patagonia together with other friends.
The actor obviously explains how the idea of transporting Marco Polo to the theatre was born. Francesco Gerardi which underlines: “It all started from a journey undertaken together with some of my work colleagues at the end of the period characterized by the continuing health emergency, asking ourselves what had saved us during the Lockdown, so as to realize the importance of the story, whatever a book. like a television series, which allowed us to ideally open the walls in which we were closed and also realizing that a correct metaphor of those long months could be the story of Marco Polo and Rustichello da Pisa from which “Il Milione” was born, as they wrote it out of the need to obtain freedom from the Genoa prison where they were locked up, succeeding in their aim thanks to a powerful Venetian who, having read the text, took it upon himself to pay the ransom. From this metaphor“, continues the actor, “the show “La Cella di Seta” was born, which narrates the story from the point of view of Rustichello da Pisa interpreted by me, who therefore tells how he meets Marco Polo and how the suggestion of his stories has allowed, first to themselves thanks to the freedom obtained, and then to discover how even the Great Khan could somehow “free himself”, as a prisoner of his golden throne that did not allow him to see his own kingdom, and then the show becomes a great tribute to what is the art of narration and to the magical relationship that is created between the speaker and the listener. Transported to the present dayconcludes Gerardi, the character of Marco Polo still maintains its charm intact, even remembering that no one would have talked about it if it were not for Rustichello, as there were numerous trips made by other explorers, but what makes the difference is when the trip is told, just think, for example, that today we know that the Vikings reached America before Christopher Columbus, but they did not tell anyone, so that the narration of Marco Polo’s trip allows us to enter the imagination with respect to fantastic worlds whose existence we were aware of, but not of the related customs and habits, even with some probable too much fantasy, making “Il Milione” one of the three great books of the tradition regarding the trip together with the Odyssey and the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri“.
To return to the modern era, the traveler has the say Michele Biniwho reports: “I cannot deny that I feel a pinch of envy towards Marco Polo, because, unlike me, he really lived the adventure, given that those 8,000 ideal kilometers of the Silk Road traveled between seas, rivers and paths, meant that almost every meter could represent something mysterious, while I already feel in awe to speak here at the “Pisa Sciotto Festival” under this label and having the Venetian merchant as a term of comparison, even though I too am a great motorcycle enthusiast who likes to travel, having in my small way already touched three continents, which is why I consider it an honor to have been invited to this Review right in my city, hoping that this circumstance is a good omen for the future and a stimulus for new trips.. Even though it may seem strange“, continues Michele Bini, “the difficulties for a modern traveler are many but not related to the journey itself, since nowadays the priorities are constituted by having time available, economic availability and a family that allows you to travel, while with the tools and means available today, the rest is achievable, as I can personally confirm, coming from the last trip made to Patagonia – where I also had the honor of delivering the red-cross flag of Pisa to the Mayor of Ushuaia – for which I had to “carve out” those 15 necessary days, in addition to finding companions who would accompany me on this adventure“.
“For the undersigned“, concludes Michele Bini, “in addition to the passion for travel itself, there is also that for knowledge, because when you return you are always enriched, in addition to having acquired greater awareness of what are your own potential and my limits, because even the simplest of trips puts you to the test, even if you have never had solo experiences because, unlike many other friends who practice the same activity, I like to share even during the journey every emotion and sensation that you feel at each stage“.
Finally, since this is the final event of the 2024 edition of the “Pisa Scotto Festival”, we will leave the relative comment on the overall progress of the same to Artistic Director Francesca Petrucci: “I am very satisfied with this edition, whose level and type of shows were much appreciated by the public who responded well even on days characterized by other concurrent events as well as by less than optimal weather conditions, with loyal attendances who followed a little the entire program and others that moved according to the themes proposed, given that, as was our intention, we created a diversified program, which included the great anniversaries relating to famous figures in history, and then moved on to meetings of a more philosophical and satire, in addition to the inevitable tastings which also represent a way of creating culture and making known the wonders and excellences of our territory, having also had the opportunity to open a window on Sport, with the afternoon dedicated to Fairplay in the scope of the various disciplines. But as always“, continues the Artistic Director, “it can be improved, and in view of the next edition I believe that it would be necessary to try to start a little earlier in the planning, as for one reason or another we always find ourselves last to start with the promotion, even if in my opinion Notice this year it was made much more targeted and widespread, having tried to spread the events as widely as possible, even though June is a period full of many offers, a circumstance which has meant that many people have complained about the lack of knowledge of some events and therefore we will try even more to let citizens know that every evening they can come to a wonderful place like the Scotto Garden where you can sit, relax and listen to something interesting“.
“If, on the contrary, I had to give a definition“, concludes Francesca Petrucci, “to the edition that has just ended, I would say that it was characterized by a common thread that has to do with the “vision of freedom”, given that it involved great visionaries of the past, as well as discordant voices that have made us reflect on very current issues, such as artificial intelligence, the “slavery” resulting from the use of social media and the multinationals that catalog and study us and then decide on our lives, which ties in very well with characters such as Giacomo Puccini, Guglielmo Marconi and Marco Polo himself who were subjects who in some way also went against the current in their respective periods with great courage and, precisely, “vision“.
Last modified: June 29, 2024
