Abbecedario per il mondo nuovo – Vuoto

Vuoto by Francesco Bianchi, with Giovanni Drago and Francesca Osso
Podcast online on Spreaker from Friday 4 June 2021

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I chose the word VUOTO (emptiness) for the Abbecedario because of all the words in the Italian language that begin with V, I think it is the one that best expresses this new era we find ourselves in, both individually and collectively.
When it becomes impossible to leave the house, when whatever lies outside seems dangerous and inhospitable, the four walls of a room change.
They become the walls of the skull, and at the same time of the whole world, enclose the totality of the human horizon.
The events and people that crowded our lives no longer exist, and we are left alone with ourselves, with our own id, our own memories.
Space expands and empties, leaving us alone.
Taking my cue from these thoughts, I chose to explore the condition of emptiness that characterises one’s perception of self. Faced with a void that appears to envelop them, the character digs deep into their own memories in search of a sense to their existence, in order to escape from the feeling of loss and dissolution. How? By seeking answers from the past, in the relationship that they have had (and which has finished) with a woman, in the midst of feelings that die and incongruities that grow and fester in the fabric of the couple’s lives. The fact that his ex is the Devil in person renders the whole situation even more complex, but also perhaps more ironic.
Vuoto is a failed relationship, a disappearing world, a pact with the Devil that is impossible to sign. At least for me. Francesco Bianchi

Synopsis
A man addresses a woman while looking out of a window. The two reflect on their lives, on the end of their relationship, and on the sense of emptiness both individual and collective that characterises contemporary existence. Oh, and the woman is the Devil in person.


Biography

Francesco is a playwright, director and translator. He was born in Colleferro (RM) on 28 July 1989. He graduated from the La Sapienza University in Rome and the IUAV University in Venice, where he was also a teaching assistant (2015/2017). Since 2012 he has been collaborating with the Teatro Due Foundation of Parma as a playwright, assistant to the artistic director and director’s assistant alongside Valerio Binasco, Massimiliano Farau, Walter Le Moli, Gigi Dall’Aglio, Bruno De Franceschi, Elisabetta Pozzi and Csaba Antal. Since 2018 he has held the role of Assistant Director In Italy to Declan Donnellan at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano and in the Cheek by Jowl company. He has been writing and translating theatrical works ever since he began in the theatre, accompanying his writing with theatrical research and study in all its forms. He received a special mention at the 2016 Hystrio Playwriting Award with the work Europa, as well as a special mention at the Extrême Contemporain 2021 Award with the piece Per lei, nel giorno del suo compleanno.


Abbecedario per il mondo nuovo
a Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa production 
in collaboration with the Hystrio – Playwriting Award and the Riccione “Pier Vittorio Tondelli” Award
directed by Lisa Ferlazzo Natoli and Alessandro Ferroni