An elderly woman about to lose her eyesight is looking for one last book to learn by heart. Drawing on a personal experience, Tiago Rodrigues has created a show that celebrates the value of transmission as an act of resistance, an invisible exchange of words and ideas that can only take place through the act of memorising.
-
Teatro Grassi
Playwright, director and, since 2022, director of the Festival d’Avignon, Tiago Rodrigues wrote By Heart in 2013, when his grandmother confided to him that she was losing her eyesight and asked him to recommend one last book that she could learn by heart, for when she could no longer read. 
The Portuguese author drew on this personal episode, creating a play on the importance of transmission, on the sense of sharing common cultural heritage, and on the invisible exchange of words and ideas that can only take place through memorising a written work. Every evening, Rodrigues invites ten spectators onto the stage: the aim is to learn a poem together – as the title suggests – by heart, without any preparation and in front of the remaining members of the audience. On the basis of a story interweaving the public and private spheres, reality and fiction, Rodrigues uses a sonnet by Shakespeare and excerpts from works by George Steiner, Iosif Brodskij and Ray Bradbury in a veritable resistance training programme that will only end once the ten new “soldiers” have learned the text by heart... 
A battle waged through art and political activism, a fight to preserve memory, to challenge the passage of time, oblivion and ageing, and to combat the loss and inevitable disappearance of everything.
Show in English with Italian and English surtitles. Please note that surtitles cannot be viewed from rows 1, 2, 3, 4, 18, and 19 of the stalls
Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes without intermission
Tickets
Playwright, director and, since 2022, director of the Festival d’Avignon, Tiago Rodrigues wrote By Heart in 2013, when his grandmother confided to him that she was losing her eyesight and asked him to recommend one last book that she could learn by heart, for when she could no longer read. 
The Portuguese author drew on this personal episode, creating a play on the importance of transmission, on the sense of sharing common cultural heritage, and on the invisible exchange of words and ideas that can only take place through memorising a written work. Every evening, Rodrigues invites ten spectators onto the stage: the aim is to learn a poem together – as the title suggests – by heart, without any preparation and in front of the remaining members of the audience. On the basis of a story interweaving the public and private spheres, reality and fiction, Rodrigues uses a sonnet by Shakespeare and excerpts from works by George Steiner, Iosif Brodskij and Ray Bradbury in a veritable resistance training programme that will only end once the ten new “soldiers” have learned the text by heart... 
A battle waged through art and political activism, a fight to preserve memory, to challenge the passage of time, oblivion and ageing, and to combat the loss and inevitable disappearance of everything.
Show in English with Italian and English surtitles. Please note that surtitles cannot be viewed from rows 1, 2, 3, 4, 18, and 19 of the stalls
Duration: 1 hour and 45 minutes without intermission
Credits
By Heart 
written, directed and performed by Tiago Rodrigues
translated into English by Tiago Rodrigues
revised by Joana Frazão
extracts and quotes from William Shakespeare, Ray Bradbury, George Steiner, Iosif Brodskij
sets, props and costumes Magda Bizarro
executive production Festival d’Avignon
based on an original work by the Mundo Perfeito company
co-produced by O Espaço do Tempo, Maria Matos Teatro Municipal
creative support from the Governo de Portugal – DGArtes
executive production for the original work Magda Bizarro, Rita Mendes
TICKETS
Stalls Full price € 40 | Discounted (under 25 and over 65) € 23 | Piccolo <35 subscribers € 15*
Balcony Full price € 32 | Discounted (under 25 and over 65) € 20 | Piccolo <35 subscribers € 15*
*Piccolo <35 subscribers may purchase up to 2 tickets at a price of € 15 each for each show in the Festival programme
Discover how and where to purchase
SUBSCRIPTIONS
Festival Subscription | 2 shows
Full price € 45 | Under 35 and over 65 € 36
Festival Subscription | 4 shows
Full price € 75 | Under 35 and over 65 € 60
Subscriptions are by name. Tickets and subscription vouchers purchased cannot be cancelled or substituted, or be used for dates or times other than those indicated. 
Classic, ORO and Piccolo <35 subscription vouchers can be used for the Festival performances.
Purchase a Festival Subscription online
For information on tickets and subscriptions for organised groups:
tel. 02 72333216
email promozione.pubblico@piccoloteatromilano.it
 
   
   
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
