Until 18 June every evening a different show (starting at 9.30 pm).
‘Theatre must not be a salon for the few, but a right for all’. It is with this spirit, well summed up in the words of Nicola Pannocchi (president of the Gat theatre cultural association) that the Castelnuovo d’Elsa amateur theatre review opens on Saturday evening (10 June), held every year in the open air in June in the evocative setting of Piazza Santa Barbara.
Promoted by the Gat with the patronage of the Municipality of Castelfiorentino, this year the review offers nine shows – one every evening (9.30 pm) – until Sunday 18, and will be “dedicated to the founding members, people who needed only a little to feel good and be happy, but only if others were happy too”.
So we start on Saturday with “Sei personaggi in cerca di dottore” (Six characters looking for a doctor), set in a doctor’s surgery waiting room, where six people are forced to put up with their quirks while the doctor is late in arriving. Sunday 11 is the date with a classic of the comedy of misunderstandings: “Two dozen scarlet roses”, a witty and elegant play about the life of a couple in which desire and the need to dream are inextricably linked to our human weaknesses. On Monday 12, a show dedicated to “strange and unconventional individuals” with “Il Solo”, from a text by Giorgio Gaber and Sandro Luporini, directed by Chiara Riondino. The relationship between parents and children is instead at the centre of the plot of “Fitti conflitti”, written and directed by Nicola Pannocchi, on stage on Tuesday 13, while on Wednesday 14 June the company “Passi di Luce” presents “Salviamo Pinocchio” (by Elena Verdiani), the eternal story of good prevailing over evil, interpreted by about forty primary school children.
Instead, on Thursday evening (15 June), the actors-children of the Gat will perform Orwell’s classic “Animal Farm”, an act of protest against power and its claim to create a society of equals that has no correspondence in reality (“some are more equal than others” is the bitter conclusion). On Friday 16, a reminder of one’s own identity with “Radici”, while on Saturday 17, space is given to the backstage with “Il matrimonio mancato”: at a wedding, neither the bride nor the groom show up, leaving room for mischievous chatter and preconceptions. The finale on Sunday 18 with “The Dragon”, a symbol of oppression and prevarication, performed by the actors of the “Passi di Luce” company.
“Castelnuovo d’Elsa Teatro,” observes Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Culture, Claudia Centi, “is a classic of the open-air summer events that have the main square of Castelnuovo d’Elsa as their natural stage. Once again this year, the square will be lit up every evening with a different show, to entertain the public through the misunderstandings or contradictions that characterise the life of relationships and couples. On two occasions, the shows will be interpreted by very young actors, and this is certainly a good omen for an activity that aims to increasingly involve the new generations”:
Admission to each show is 9 euros (subscription 9 shows 50 euros). Online ticket booking: www.gatteatro.com; info: 3926090772.
