L’angelo del focolare
A woman killed by her husband continues to live. Every evening, he smashes her head in, and every morning she gets up, cleans, cooks, cares, and suffers the violence and the indifference of those around her. No one believes her, even though she is dead. Like an imprisoned angel of the hearth, she is unable to escape her fate of death and abuse.
One day, within a family, the habitual violence inflicted by a husband on his wife becomes femicide. The man kills her by smashing her head in with an iron. The woman lies dead on the ground, but her death is not enough to convince anyone. The result is that, like the angel of the hearth in whose image she finds herself imprisoned, the woman is forced to get up and return to her same old routine, cleaning the house, doing the housework, cooking for her husband and son, and taking care of her elderly mother-in-law. Every morning, the family finds her dead but refuses to believe it. Every morning, she gets back up, washes the blood from her face, changes her ripped dress and continues to suffer her husband’s violence, her son’s depression, and the helplessness of her mother-in-law, who indulges her brutal and despotic son instead of condemning him.
Every evening the wife dies again, like a hellish ring of eternal punishment. The angel is unable to fly away, unable to leave the hearth. Every morning, she is forced to get back up, even if it is only to open the moka and make coffee.
The play contains explicit language and scenes of violence
Duration: the play is currently in production
Contacts
One day, within a family, the habitual violence inflicted by a husband on his wife becomes femicide. The man kills her by smashing her head in with an iron. The woman lies dead on the ground, but her death is not enough to convince anyone. The result is that, like the angel of the hearth in whose image she finds herself imprisoned, the woman is forced to get up and return to her same old routine, cleaning the house, doing the housework, cooking for her husband and son, and taking care of her elderly mother-in-law. Every morning, the family finds her dead but refuses to believe it. Every morning, she gets back up, washes the blood from her face, changes her ripped dress and continues to suffer her husband’s violence, her son’s depression, and the helplessness of her mother-in-law, who indulges her brutal and despotic son instead of condemning him.
Every evening the wife dies again, like a hellish ring of eternal punishment. The angel is unable to fly away, unable to leave the hearth. Every morning, she is forced to get back up, even if it is only to open the moka and make coffee.
The play contains explicit language and scenes of violence
Duration: the play is currently in production
Credits
L’angelo del focolare
written and directed by Emma Dante
props and costumes by Emma Dante
lighting Cristian Zucaro
with David Leone, Giuditta Perriera, Ivano Picciallo, Leonarda Saffi
coordination and distribution Aldo Miguel Grompone, Rome
organisation Daniela Gusmano
co-produced by Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, Teatro di Napoli – Teatro Nazionale, Châteauvallon-Liberté, scène nationale, Les Célestins, Théâtre de Lyon, La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand, Scène Nationale d’ALBI-Tarn, Le Cratère, Scène nationale Alès, L'Estive, scène nationale de Foix et de l’Ariège, Théâtre + Cinéma Scène nationale Grand Narbonne, Théâtre de l’Archipel, scène nationale de Perpignan, Théâtre Molière, Sète scène nationale archipel de Thau, Le Parvis, scène nationale Tarbes-Pyrénées, Compagnia Sud Costa Occidentale, Carnezzeria
The play contains explicit language and scenes of violence
Picture: Giulio Monteverde, Angelo, monument of the family Oneto, Cimitero di Staglieno, Genova, 1882
