La Commedia Divina – (The Divine Comedy) – November 20-22

ABOUT

For 40 years, the Teatro Patologico has been working with determination to prove that drama  therapy can be an effective treatment for mental health needs and challenges. 

On June 12, Dario D’Ambrosi, founder and president of the Pathological Theatre, presented the  first scientific results at the United Nations, confirming the psychological and physical benefits of  drama therapy for people with mental and physical disabilities. To expand the study and apply it to a greater  number of pathologies and clinical cases, we need financial resources and strategic alliances.  Supporting this research means contributing to real change in the treatment of cognitive differences. 

Our show, The Divine Comedy, is proof of what many consider impossible: people with severe psychiatric  conditions learning discipline, emotional control, and expressive skills, while performing in a second language, all thanks  to drama therapy. In many parts of the world, these people are still forced to stay on restraint beds  and in straightjackets. Thanks to D’Ambrosi’s method and drama therapy, we prove that drama therapy can be a resource for people of all abilities to learn, work, perform, and above all, fully participate in society. They are no longer on the margins, but an integral part of the world. 

Italy was the first to close its asylums and today, thanks to the Teatro Patologico and the  University of Rome Tor Vergata, it is the first in the world to launch a university course dedicated to  people with mental disabilities.

Your contribution helps to support our work as we encourage the World Health Organization to recognize drama therapy as an official psychiatric treatment.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, on behalf of our artist and their families!  

We warmly invite you to visit us in Italy:  

we promise it will be an experience you will never forget! 

Please continue to support us and follow our journey at WWW.TEATROPATOLOGICO.COM.

CREDITS 

CAST: 

ROSA ENGINOLI 

PAOLO VASELLI 

ILARIA SERRATO 

FABIO BISCHETTI 

FABIO DE PERSIO 

ANDREA FERRARI 

NICOLO’ FRONTICELLI BALDELLI 

ALESSIO PESCINA 

SILVIA SORCINI 

ANDREA SCRIMIERI 

ADAPTATION, DRAMATURGY, AND DIRECTION: 

DARIO D’AMBROSI 

SET DESIGN AND COSTUMES: 

RAFFAELLA TONI 

ASSISTANT TO SET DESIGN AND COSTUMES: 

GAIA CAPONI 

LIGHT DESIGNER: 

DANILO FACCO 

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: 

ILARIA SERRATO 

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: 

MATTEO BINETTI – MIRIAM ANTONACCI 

COORDINATION: 

ALESSANDRO CORAZZI 

ORGANIZATION AND COMUNICATIONS: 

INES BERG 

ORGANIZATION SECRETARY: 

FRANCESCA GRANATA 

Thanks to: Italian Institute of Cultura in New York, Claudio Pagliara, Restaurant “Via della Pace”,  Restaurant “Serafina”, Fabio Granato, Claudia Gerini

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