It will once again be the exciting stage of the Greek theater of Tindari to host the new show of “Free theater company to dream” of the inmates of Gazzithe prison theater project, wanted and carried out by Daniela Ursino. Contrada Luna is the title of the show directed by Mario Incudine scheduled for July 28 at 20.30. It is a re-adaptation of texts by three Sicilian authors “Lunaria” by Vincenzo Consolo, “The Funeral of the Moon” by Lucio Piccolo and “The Sun Knight” by Franco Scaldati.
«It is a great emotion to arrive in the second year, thanks to the inclusion of the show in the bill of Tindari Festivaldirected by Tindaro Granata who also follows the laboratories of prisoners in prison – he says Daniela Ursino – we are more cohesive and ready to experience enormous emotion again. The show is the culmination of the work done during the year with the director Mario Incudine who created a text merging the works of three Sicilian authors. It is a very difficult text, sometimes courtly in language, we had some doubts, but the prisoners themselves wanted to compete with a difficult text that would have allowed them to further test themselves by going beyond last year’s commitment. There are many new features this year: in addition to the prisoners, there will also be semi-free prisoners and those who have returned free but have continued to be close to the project which evolves every year involving new energies and collaborations».
«It is a path – explains Daniela Ursino – which is also developing outside the prison in the parish of Camaro San Paolo where he is parish priest Nino Basiledirector of the Caritas who from the beginning, with the archbishop, supported the project. All this thanks to the director of the prison Angela Sciaviccoto the penitentiary police, to the collaboration of the Department directed by John Russo who took our project to heart and the support of the director general of prisoners Gianfranco DeGesu. The show has the patronage of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Justice to underline the re-educational and social value of the whole activity».
In the audience, in addition to the families of the prisoners, “this is also part of the rehabilitation project”, there will be a group of inmates of Barcelona prison Pg where a prison theater project is being developed on the model of the one in Messina.
Protagonists on stage the actresses of “Company of Students Free to be Free”, born as part of the collaboration project between the University and prison, professional actors, musicians and the ladies of Patti «represent the territory, the director wanted to see the open scene, the stage as a tableau vivant (a living picture) for one show that is predominantly musical and that enhances popular traditions such as this year’s theme of the Tindari Festival. The chosen text is a prayer to the moon. It is an acted show but the music has a large space also in this one notices the sense of wanting to be all together to share a space of art and beauty».
«It is a tribute to the Sicilian poetics of Consolo and Scaldati, passing through Lucio Piccolo – adds Mario Incudine, director – it is a show that brings together two apparently distant literal genres, two different languages which are the courtly language of Vincenzo Consolo and the popular one of Scaldati. They influenced each other and had a vision of the moon falling which represents the loss of poetry, memory and tradition. We wanted to dedicate the show, precisely because the Tindari festival is dedicated to the Sicilian tradition, to these great authors».
«It is a particular show – he continues – having the inmates recite poetic lyrics of this kind was a great bet, said by them they take on an absolute value. It is a choral show, very varied, there is music, a large space for the boys and greater integration with the girls of the university, a poetic and moving show. The only difficulty was logistical: you can’t do standard rehearsals but these actors have nothing to envy to professionals, they have certain things that no professional actor can give you and then I don’t make any difference, I think whoever goes on stage at that moment he is an actor and they convey a different reality that makes them unique». The show is open to all the public. It also has the support of the Municipality of Patti, the Sicily Foundation, the Inda Foundation which granted the costumes, the Messina Rotary club, while the scenic elements are from the Basile Institute.