Teatro Utile/Mascherenere
Short texts of a few minutes that together make up an impressionist picture of immigration in a big city, such as Milan. The starting point is La città sradicata (Geografie dell’abitare contemporaneo. I migranti mappano Milano) by Nausicaa Pezzoni.
The dramaturgy works on the way migrants see us and the unknown city they arrive in. The dominant sensation is disorientation, the non-recognition of places and language. The irony, often directed at oneself, is corrosive and spares no one.
We are obliged to recognise ourselves in the behaviour and stereotypical judgments towards so-called ‘non-EU’ people. This makes it possible to deploy strong themes with lightness.
The direction, with the precious collaboration of Olivier Elouti, alternates choral and individual moments trying to enhance the collective participation in the scenic event. The stage is marked by road signs and simple scenic elements made of cardboard following the style of “street-art”.
The show Sotto un cielo straniero (Under a foreign sky) was born from the dramaturgy workshop conducted by Renato Gabrielli with the collaboration of Tiziana Bergamaschi for the Teatro Utile (Art and development) project promoted by the Accademia dei Filodrammatici in Milan.
The show staged at ZONA K is an evolution and reworking of the first result presented in June 2014.
text by Marco Di Stefano, Rufin Doh Zéyénouin, Margarita Egorova, Elide La Vecchia, Alfie Nze, Lorenzo Piccolo, Diego Runko; dramaturgical supervision by Renato Gabrielli; performed by the migrant actors participating in the “Teatro Utile” project Olivier Elouti, Kalua Rodriguez, Yordy Cagua, Yudel Collazo, Mateo Çili Mayil Georgi Nieto, Ngone Gueye, musician Rachid L. Willy. Willy; direction: Tiziana Bergamaschi assistant director: Olivier Wangue Elouti; sets: Andrea Finizio
Teatro Utile is a project of the Accademia dei Filodrammatici, now in its fourth year, which has seen various activities and collaborations. Through theatrical practice we wanted to encourage the creation of a mixed group of artists able to work together to spread multicultural theatre. The basic idea is that experiences from different cultures converge in a single project and create a socially useful theatre that is attentive to the multi-ethnic society in which we live. Our activity takes place on several fronts: in the first year we worked on the creation of a group made up of twenty artists of different nationalities who, after a month-long seminar, presented to the public The journey born from the encounter of their different artistic backgrounds and cultures. In the second and third years we worked on dramaturgy, with seminars led by Renato Gabrielli, Mohamed Kacimi and Kossi Efoui. In the first seminar, led by Renato Gabrielli, the texts were written and then collected in a performance entitled Sotto un cielo straniero (Under a foreign sky) presented at the Fabbrica del Vapore in 2014. At the same time we continue the activities of “Teatro Utile” and “Mascherenere” with a permanent workshop open to Italian and foreign artists who want to experiment with theatrical research on multiculturalism. Moreover, with performances that take up the open structure of Il viaggio, we intervene in difficult situations to encourage interaction between the public and artists. Interaction that is born from the recognition of diversity and that favours the awareness of equal dignity, a fundamental basis for every human relationship.
Mascherenere, is a cultural association founded by a group of Italian and African artists in 1990, with the aim of spreading the cultures of Black Africa in Italy. The association is involved in theatrical and intercultural activities in the territory, working on the dynamics of artistic contamination that arise from the encounter between the “migrant” cultures and that of the host country.