An original work, i.e., how Fahrenheit 451 could be rethought, written and composed in 2024; drawing inspiration from Bradbury, Sotterraneo leads the audience on an exploration of the points for reflection that his novel continues to generate in contemporary times.
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Teatro Studio Melato
Seventy years on from the publication of Bradbury’s masterpiece, and fifty-eight from the release of the film of the same name by François Truffaut. Sotterraneo has begun to write an original work freely inspired by the novel, asking – together with the audience and through the language of theatre – where the risk of totalitarianism lies today. In 1953, Ray Bradbury imagined a dystopian future in which reading was forbidden, and whoever was caught reading or in possession of books was arrested. Paradoxically, fire brigades were not used to put out fires, but rather to burn books. As with all totalitarian regimes, there is a clandestine group of dissidents, the book people, who memorise great classics of international literature to save them from destruction, thus passing them on to future generations.
«The book came out around 70 years ago – explain the members of the Sotterraneo collective – but it is set in the future, in the twenties of the 21st century, in other words, today. Yet you live in the 21st century and you are reading this; does this mean that Bradbury was wrong? It depends on how we interpret dystopia; a prediction for the future that is either confirmed or disproved at a certain point, or a warning for the present that continues to sound?».
Il fuoco era la cura provides an in-depth examination and free interpretation of Fahrenheit 451, consuming it as one does with a beloved book, read thousands of times and taken on thousands of journeys, as the cover fades, the paper escapes its binding, and the pages fill with notes, tickets, bookmarks and recollections. Five performers look back over the history of the novel, identifying with the characters, moving horizontally to map the areas of shade, the things that Bradbury does not explain or recount, creating parallel lines of narration, alternative theories, going as far as to construct the story of an intermediate period between our present and an anticultural future in which stupification saves us from the burden of complex thought.
And what if Bradbury simply got his dates wrong by a few years, if the events of Fahrenheit 451 were to take place now; what would we do?
Duration: 90’ without intermission
Seventy years on from the publication of Bradbury’s masterpiece, and fifty-eight from the release of the film of the same name by François Truffaut. Sotterraneo has begun to write an original work freely inspired by the novel, asking – together with the audience and through the language of theatre – where the risk of totalitarianism lies today. In 1953, Ray Bradbury imagined a dystopian future in which reading was forbidden, and whoever was caught reading or in possession of books was arrested. Paradoxically, fire brigades were not used to put out fires, but rather to burn books. As with all totalitarian regimes, there is a clandestine group of dissidents, the book people, who memorise great classics of international literature to save them from destruction, thus passing them on to future generations.
«The book came out around 70 years ago – explain the members of the Sotterraneo collective – but it is set in the future, in the twenties of the 21st century, in other words, today. Yet you live in the 21st century and you are reading this; does this mean that Bradbury was wrong? It depends on how we interpret dystopia; a prediction for the future that is either confirmed or disproved at a certain point, or a warning for the present that continues to sound?».
Il fuoco era la cura provides an in-depth examination and free interpretation of Fahrenheit 451, consuming it as one does with a beloved book, read thousands of times and taken on thousands of journeys, as the cover fades, the paper escapes its binding, and the pages fill with notes, tickets, bookmarks and recollections. Five performers look back over the history of the novel, identifying with the characters, moving horizontally to map the areas of shade, the things that Bradbury does not explain or recount, creating parallel lines of narration, alternative theories, going as far as to construct the story of an intermediate period between our present and an anticultural future in which stupification saves us from the burden of complex thought.
And what if Bradbury simply got his dates wrong by a few years, if the events of Fahrenheit 451 were to take place now; what would we do?
Duration: 90’ without intermission
Credits
Il fuoco era la cura
freely inspired by Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
a Sotterraneo creation
created and directed by Sara Bonaventura, Claudio Cirri, Daniele Villa
with Flavia Comi, Davide Fasano, Fabio Mascagni, Radu Murarasu, Cristiana Tramparulo
written by Daniele Villa
lighting Marco Santambrogio
costumes Ettore Lombardi
sound Simone Arganini
a Teatro Metastasio di Prato, Sotterraneo, Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / Teatro Nazionale production
with the support of Centrale Fies / Passo Nord
artistic residencies Fondazione Armunia, La Corte Ospitale, Centrale Fies / Passo Nord
Sotterraneo is part of the Fies Factory, Associated Artist at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, and resident artist at the ATP Teatri di Pistoia
Smoke machines and strobe lights are used during the show
Tickets
Category of performance Piccolo Production
Stalls full price € 40 | Discounted (under 26 and over 65) € 23
Balcony full price € 32 | Discounted (under 26 and over 65) € 20
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Organised groups and audiences
For information on tickets for organised groups:
tel. +39 02 72 333 216
email promozione.pubblico@piccoloteatromilano.it
