Theatre/performances
Meran/Merano, Meran/Merano and environs
Trina and Erich. A young woman, a man. Two voices. Two witnesses. Two victims. We are in Curon in the Vinschgau Valley, just a few kilometers from the Austrian border. The beautiful novel Resto qui by Marco Balzano becomes a theatrical play with two characters and many more voices, brought to life by the bodies and mastery of Arianna Scommegna and Mattia Fabris: they are Trina and Erich, witnesses, victims, and, when necessary, even executioners. They are the witnesses of an entire community wiped out in the name of progress and a dam that was almost useless—except to erase the lives of some hundreds of families who had resisted everything, including the First and Second World Wars, changes of nationality, fascism, and forced choices. “Through a dramaturgical weave of narrated parts and dialogues, this yet another ugly chapter of Italian history unfolds. A simple, lean staging: as Melville would have written it, ancient and melancholic. A story of dirty hands and tenacity, anger, violence, and remorse. Sketches. The story of simple women and men who did not accept surrender and now—before the Tribunal of Humanity and for a daughter who is no longer there—relive their long and humiliating defeat,” writes Francesco Niccolini, author and director of the play. The two protagonists, husband and wife, each tell their own version of the story: between Fontamara and Rashomon, there will be partly coinciding, partly different and complementary versions that will compose a pale and painful but dignified picture to present to the audience. Because you can lose the battle, but not be defeated: this is exactly what happens to Trina.
By Marco Balzano
Theatrical adaptation and direction by Francesco Niccolini
With Arianna Scommegna and Mattia Fabris
Set design: Antonio Panzuto
Costumes: Emanuela Dall’Aglio
Lighting: Alessandro Verazzi
Original music: Dimitri Grechi Espinoza
Production: Teatro Stabile di Bolzano, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa
