Written, directed and interpreted by Vincenzo Pirrotta
Original music by Giovanni Parrinello performed live by Dario Sulis
The Italian Cultural Institute is pleased to invite its members and friends to an exceptional evening featuring Vincenzo Pirrotta, who will present his play La ballata delle balàte at the Street Theatre in Canberra on the 6th of April and at Italian Forum’s Auditorium in Leichhardt on the 7th and 8th of April 2017.
La ballata delle balàte is a monologue written, interpreted and directed by Vincenzo Pirrotta. It features a mafioso fugitive who from his hideout proclaims his faith in God, while at the same time putting into practice the cruel and distorted logic of the mafia. On Easter Friday he traces back his solitary and brutal life, while praying the rosary where the sorrowful mysteries belong to the passion of Christ, whereas the joyous mysteries represent a barbaric list of mafia’s victims. The play proposes a deep reflection on mafia and its religious devotion. The staging is characterized by a duality between sacred and profane, culminating in the adoration of the monstrance containing the pizzini, i.e. mafia’s orders. Contrasting elements cohabit in the mind of the fugitive, such as the blood of Christ and of mafia’s victims. The staging is unadorned, emhpasized by a game of light and shadow highlighting how the hideout becomes for the mafioso a kind of place of worship, made out of church candles, a table and two chairs, where he prays his rosary wearing a crown of thorns and a noose around his neck. The text is entirely in Sicilian dialect: a purposeful linguistic choice which, with its natural expressive ability, reinforces the characterization of the protagonist.
Acclaimed playwright, theatre director and actor, Vincenzo Pirrotta studied at I.N.D.A. (Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico) in Siracusa and was subsequently a pupil of Mimmo Cuticchio, who taught him the art of the Sicilian cuntu (storytelling). Winner of several theatre criticism awards, founder of the Esperidio theatre company, buoyant interpreter of countless theatre works presented both in Italy and abroad, Vincenzo Pirrotta represents nowadays one of the most influential and innovative voices of Italian theatre. In December 2015 Vincenzo presented in Sydney the show Terra matta, produced by the Teatro Stabile in Catania and based on Vincenzo Rabito’s autobiography.
For a complete biography of Vincenzo Pirrotta click HERE.
THE PRESENTATION WILL BE IN ITALIAN.
Free entry. Limited seats
Booking essential: www.eventbrite.com.au