La Commedia divina – Teatro Patologico 40 Year Anniversary – November 20-23

ABOUT

There have been many adaptations of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy but this one by the Teatro Patologico, conceived and directed by Dario D’Ambrosi, has its own authenticity and originality because, while re-proposing the atmospheres of Dante’s this adaptation tells of the hell that every disabled person is forced to face to try to feel included in a society that has always rejected the different and above all “the mentally ill”. Here then the hell of the experience of every disabled actor of the Teatro Patologico becomes a reality to be welcomed or better accepted as a punch in the stomach. Purgatory will be a simple visionary passage between Hell and Heaven. And it is precisely in Paradise (with a final surprise that cannot be revealed) the world of the without borders and barriers, the world of the “mentally ill” with that of the “normal”. As in all the shows of the Teatro Patologico, D’Ambrosi puts the the mentally disabled at the center of the scene to convincingly argue that “there will never be any science that can determine how far your brain will hold up”

CREDITS

Adaptation, dramaturgy, and direction: Dario D’Ambrosi
Cast: Rosa Enginoli and the actors of the Compagnia Stabile del Teatro Patologico
Musical accompaniment: Ilaria Serrato
Set design and costumes: Raffaella Toni
Lighting design: Danilo Facco
Assistant director: Ilaria Serrato
Assistant director: Matteo Binetti
Coordination: Alessandro Corazzi
Organization and communication: Ines Berg
Organizational secretary: Francesca Granata

BIO

Dario D’Ambrosi, born in Milan on October 15 1958, is one of the major Italian avantgarde artists and the creator of the theatrical movement called Teatro Patologico. He is an actor, a director and the author of shows that represent the thoughts and the behaviors of people with mental illnesses. He has been, for over thirty years, one of the most representative figures of the Italian theater.

Since early age he showed intense passion for theater and for mental disorders, so much so that he stayed for three months at the psychiatric hospital Paolo Pini of Milan in voluntary commitment, in order to closely observe the patients’ behavior. From these two passions the formula of his artistic production was born. The shows of the Teatro Patologico investigate folly, the true madness of the diseased, with the intent of giving back, in D’Ambrosi’s own words, “dignity to the fool”.

After producing his first few shows, only 19, D’Ambrosi moves to New York City. Here he meets Ellen Stewart, founder of La MaMa Café, where he premieres with his monologue Tutti Non Ci Sono (“Everybody Is Not Here”), which will stay in the season for months.

Dario D’Ambrosi, after becoming a life member, continues to produce shows and in 1989 directs the festival L’Altra Italia (“The Other Italy”). Tutti Non Ci Sono (“Everybody Is Not Here”), Cose Da Pazzi (“Crazy Stuff”), Il Principe Della Follia (“The Prince of Folly”), Il Nulla (“The Void”), Frusta-azioni (“Frustrations”), Un Regno Per Il Mio Cavallo (“My Kingdom For A Horse”), are but a few of the most significant shows that Dario D’Ambrosi wrote, directed and starred in, in all the four Continents