From January 26–28, 2023, at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (66 E. 4th Street, NYC), La MaMa is presenting the New York Premiere of fedeli d’Amore (Love’s faithful), a polyptych in seven panels for Dante Alighieri by Marco Martinelli and Ermanna Montanari with music by Luigi Ceccarelli, featuring Ermanna Montanari and live trumpet by Simone Marzocchi.
The new stage poetry “fedeli d’Amore” (Love’s loyal) by Marco Martinelli is centered on Ermanna Montanari’s extraordinary vocal research (she was named “2018 Best Italian Actress” for her performance). The Italian and American Playwright Project chose the work, which has been made available by PAJ Publications, and it revolves on Dante and the current day.
The seven panels feature a variety of voices: the dawn fog of 1321, the demon of the pit where the merchants of death are punished, the poet’s donkey on his last journey, the “scolding” imp who incites fights over money, Italy kicking herself, Antonia – Alighieri’s daughter – and “an end that is not an end.” The poet who fled his own city and is now on his deathbed and exiled in Ravenna speaks to us in these voices, which are those of Montanari.
Dante is evoked while embracing a single salvation in a scenario created by a vocal, sonorous, visual, and dramatic alchemy that may unite the psyche and the world: Love is what causes us to rebel; it is the power that liberates and elevates.
fedeli d’Amore will be presented at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in association with Teatro delle Albe/Ravenna Teatro, Fondazione Campania dei Festival – Napoli Teatro Festival, and Ravenna Festival; with the support of Italian Cultural Institute in New York, ATER Fondazione, Regione Emilia – Romagna/Cultura d’Europa, Ministero della Cultura, and Ministero degli Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale; in collaboration with The Consulate General of Italy in New York, Com .It.Es, Italian and American Playwrights Project, and Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò NYU.
La MaMa will also host a free, three-day workshop, directed by Marco Martinelli for people of any age, with or without theatrical experience, from January 25-29, 2023. The workshop will focus on Dante’s Divine Comedy.
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