Verdi’s Traviata scheduled in the Greek Theater of Syracuse will be translated in sign language for the first time ever next 5 August as part of the «Teatri di pietra» opera festival. The initiative is part of a project born from the collaboration between the Sicilian Opera Choir, creator and producer of the Festival, and the «Sicilia, turismo per Tutti» Association of Syracuse, in the person of Bernadette Lo Bianco. The project involves the Syracuse section of the national body for the protection and assistance of the deaf, which will provide operators who will interpret the melodies of the most performed opera in the world in sign language.
Deaf people will also be able to “listen” to music through sound waves that will vibrate a balloon that will be provided to them at the entrance. «The project – says the president of the Sicilian Opera Choir Alberto Munafò Siragusa – aims to create a bridge between people to reiterate that music belongs to everyone, that theater has no borders. «We are very moved – because as artists after many years of activity – said the artistic director of the festival Francesco Costa – we always need new ideas and the idea of being able to give a smile, an emotion to people to whom this form of art usually is substantially precluded makes us very proud and increasingly responsible for our mission in the world. We are very happy – said Lo Bianco – to have been involved in this magnificent project. The event represents the only example in the world in a stone theater with interpreters in attendance and certainly represents an extraordinary example to be followed in every part of the globe to achieve the goal of an ever more complete inclusion of people with hearing disabilities.