Photo: Teatro delle Albe
Theatre Gigante "Rumore Di Acque"
Alessandro Renda in "Rumore Di Acque"
This week, Theatre Gigante closes its season with an online benefit for Ukrainian refugees with a virtual presentation of Rumore Di Acque (Noise in the Waters.) Written and directed for Italy’s Teatro delle Albe by Marco Martinelli, the darkly satirical drama is presented in Italian with English subtitles. The drama is performed by Alessandro Renda with original music by Freatelli Mancuso. Renda plays an embittered military bureaucrat living in an island in the middle of the Mediterranean. His job is to tally the dead who have perished trying to make it from Africa to Italy.
The monologue is that of someone who has found himself in an unenviable position as something of a grotesque comedy of a human being. It’s dark, but it isn’t bleak.
Mancuso’s score for the monologue has been described as haunting and soulful. The fusion between Mancuso and Renda should make for a fascinating reflection on the nature of humanity. There’s deep loss in the midst of so much suffering that continues amongst the displaced humanity that is forced to shuffle across the globe. Renda appears in a shadowy light in shades and a military uniform. “The piece has that Brechtian quality, which allows the viewer emotional respite,” says Theatre Gigante’s Isabelle Kralj. “The General breaks the 4th wall, simultaneously talking to the audience and himself as he tries to make sense of the tragedy. He is a buffoon, in a way.”
The show is a collaboration between Theatre Gigante and Teatro delle Albe. Back in 2019 they began working on a piece that was set to debut in Milwaukee before making it on to summer festivals in Ravenna and Milan. “We called it In the Belly of the Beast, and it was to be a very current response to everything that was going on around us—in America, Italy, and worldwide (Trump, Salvini, anxiety, fear, etc.). A rather cheerful piece …” says Kralj. Things have been moving very quickly in the world since 2019. They’re working on a new collaboration entirely that they hope to schedule for 2023.
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Rumore Di Acque (Noise in the Waters) is presented March 16-April 12. Donations in any amount can be made to giganterumore.eventbrite.com. All proceeds go to the United Nations Refugee Agency for Ukrainian Refugees. Those who donate will be sent a link to view the show online. For more information, visit www.theatregigante.org.
