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RAT Italian Actor
Dear RATs;
I'm writing to let you know about an upcoming tour to the US by the
Italian actor Marco Paolini, winner of the prestigious UBU Award for
politically committed theatre and director of the JOLE Theatrical
cooperative in Padua.
Paolini developed a performance monologue about the Vajont Dam
disaster in Italy, when a deceptive energy conglomerate held back
facts from the public that lead to a landslide in the Alps that wiped
out five towns, killing over 2000 people in the early 1960's. Paolini
performed the piece first in living rooms, then social service
centers, hospitals, on the radio, in theatres, and finally on
television on a stage set up in view of the dam that was subject of
his piece. 3.5 million Italians watched, which would be like a
theatrical monologue in the US attracting a Superbowl-sized
viewership. He has done pieces on collective memory and the
persistence of dialect in Italy, and his most recent piece, opening
this summer, deals with the mysterious, never-solved downing of a
passenger plane over the island of Ustica. People have argued for
years that the plane was the mistaken victim of the hidden war
between the US and Libya's Ghaddafi, but nothing has ever been proven
and the Italian equivalent of the CIA won't release their files.
Paolini has also done numerous films, including a role in "Caro
diario", pretty well-known here in the U.S. But he's a theatre guy.
An English translation of the Vajont story will be out this fall.
Paolini will be in Chicago in November (on the dime of the Italian
Cultural Institute, very activistic here in Chicago), to perform and
run a workshop here at Northwestern. He is interested in being in the
US through January.
I am wondering whether any RAT organizations would be interested in
hosting a talk or performance by Paolini. He should be travelling
quite light, though it would be necessary to get him to you and back
home and cover his local expenses. As for performance, there is a
translation issue; I may travel with him as interpreter if he thinks
it's necessary and the schedules can be worked out. Or you can
arrange a local interpreter.
His Jole theatrical cooperative sponsors national and int'l
theatrical initiatives and exchanges, and also works in film & video,
so this might be a chance to see about establishing performance links
to Italy. But you have to talk to him about that.
If you are interested but short the cash, and who isn't?, you might
look into joining w/ other organizations to scratch up the funds, or
seek local support in the Italian / Italian American communities near
your home base. The National Italian American Foundation
(http://www.niaf.org) may be able to direct you to possible funding
sources in your community. Or check with Italian language or
literature depts. at local universities, who might like to pitch in
and host a Paolini talk, lec/dem, or even workshop.
Send me your questions, and/or I can direct you directly to Marco.
Best, tom Simpson
--
Thomas Simpson
Northwestern University
ths907@nwu.edu