Emilia Verginelli Rome, Italy
Lourdes
I saw a woman walking after 25 years of not walking.
I was on pool duty. She was in front of me.
I did not think anything. I did not think of a miracle. I just kept watching.
There is a train that leaves Rome at six in the morning and arrives in Lourdes in 24 hours. It’s the white train. For people ascending, there are two possibilities: asking for grace or simply attending. Some people leave to ask for a miracle, while others wear a uniform. After “Io non sono nessuno”, presented at Santarcangelo Festival in 2021, Emilia Verginelli narrates another experience – in many ways surprising – that marked her life: from the age of 18 to 28, she went to Lourdes every year as a volunteer. Lourdes is a concrete place marked by scheduled times and functions. For two years, the author collected testimonies, interviews and tangible voices as the starting point to observe the Lourdes phenomenon in a clinical way. The work is a conversation, a series of dialogues that took place over time, not chronologically but going from narration to recollection, from recollection to reflection, remaining in the present time of the stage performance. A research on the threshold between the self and others. In the fragmentation of a shared space, where there is no centre or frontal position, each person can choose which questions to ask.
The most absurd thing about the miracle is that you cannot speak of it.
If it is true, you better keep it to yourself.
Bio
Emilia Verginelli was born in Rome and graduated in the United States. She is an actress, performer and director. She has been working in film since 2004; from 2011 to 2019, she was a member of Emma Dante’s Sud Costa Occidentale company. From 2001, she collaborated for ten years as a theatre volunteer with Opera Don Guanella in Rome. In 2003, she created a permanent theatre workshop within juvenile court facilities, for which she later founded the non-profit organisation Gruppo Sorriso. In 2010, she founded fivizzano27, an independent cultural space in Rome’s Pigneto neighbourhood. In 2019, she made her directorial debut with “Il Mondo Cieco”; in the same year, she created and directed “Io non sono nessuno” (finalist of Premio Scenario, Angelo Mai, Short Theater, and semifinalist of In-Box 2021). “Lourdes” is her third project, where she investigates the self beyond the collective. On stage with her is Ale Rilletti; “Lourdes” is their first project together.
Address
Accessibility: accessible for wheelchair users and people with limited mobility.
via Giovanni Pascoli 3, Santarcangelo
Info
duration: 75 minutes
language: Italian with English, French, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, Polish, Dutch subtitles
performance available in Italian Sign Language
Credits
di e con Emilia Verginelli
e con Ale Rilletti
consulenza letteraria Sara De Simone
ambiente sonoro Francesca Cuttica
disegno luci Camila Chiozza
produzione Bluemotion / Angelo Mai
ringraziamenti Roberta Luciani, Viola Lo Moro, Andrea Pizzalis, Naoures Rouissi, Filomena Fusco, Vincenzo Rilletti, Benedetto Patruno, Ubaldo, Gianni, Alessandro, Andrea Beghetto, Luisa Merloni, Elisa Alessandro, Elena Bastogi, Benedetta Boggio, Giorgina Pi, Lucia Calamaro, Sara Del Caldo
traduzioni a cura di Brianda Carreras, Alexia Sarantopoulou, Elise Blotière, Tomasz Kireńczuk, Naoures Roussi, Neon Loriga, Yan Duyvendak
interpretazione LIS Edgarda Samaritani
incontri artistici a cura di FONDO Yan Duyvendak, Camille Louis, Ana Pi
tra le vincitrici del Progetto CURA 2022 Elsinor Centro di ProduzioneTeatrale / Teatro Cantiere Florida (Firenze) + Cross residence (Ameno, Verbania)
residenze (2020-2023)Teatro India -Teatro di Roma (Roma), fivizzano27 (Roma), KRAKK (Santarcangelo di Romagna), Ateliersì (Bologna), Angelo Mai (Roma), Centrale Fies (Dro), AMAT e Teatri di Pesaro (Pesaro), Teatro Nuovo (Napoli), Teatro Pubblico Pugliese (San Vito dei Normanni)
progetto sostenuto da FONDO Network per la creatività emergente sviluppato da Santarcangelo Festival con AMAT, Centrale Fies, ERT - Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, Fabbrica Europa, I Teatri di Reggio Emilia, L'arboreto - Teatro Dimora | Centro di Residenza Emilia- Romagna, Operaestate Festival Veneto / CSC Centro per la Scena Contemporanea, Ravenna Teatro, Teatro Pubblico Campano, Teatro Pubblico Pugliese, TSU Teatro Stabile dell'Umbria, Triennale Milano Teatro
© Claudia Pajewski