In collaboration with the Year 13 classes at the Checchi Institute
If you hear bells ringing in the night, it is the gods arriving: they are searching for a good soul. Three gods are looking for at least one good person, otherwise they will be forced to destroy the world; and they find her in the prostitute Shen Te. Appearances can be deceiving and often, in a corrupt society, it is precisely those on the margins who possess a goodness that is entirely inner, in contrast to that determined by appearances, which hides poverty of spirit and falsehood.
But one cannot be both good and just at the same time: rewarded with a cash prize, Shen Te is forced to harden her heart, to invent an authoritarian, capitalist, unyielding alter ego, so as not to be overwhelmed by the ever-pressing demands of the poor and the parasites; she too, once she has risen through the ranks of the machinery of power, must follow its rhythm, becoming part of it. After years in which Brecht was consigned to oblivion, seen as inconvenient and out of fashion, today perhaps more than ever there is a need to address social issues clearly, and to do so without artifice. The revolution brought about in the world of theatre by the German director by dismantling theatrical fiction is exemplary: by highlighting theatrical mechanisms as false, he paradoxically makes them credible, for they are sincere; only a theatre that does not pretend to be reality, but shows itself for what it is, has the chance to embark on a quest for truth.
Brecht’s world is a world of poetry, songs, dialogue and live music: all devices which, however, convey a message, possess powerful content and seek to speak to the minds of the audience, urging them not to be seduced by facile emotions, but to remain clear-headed, alert, to reflect and to act; Brecht passes the baton to the audience; he wants them to take on responsibility: we are not alone and we cannot close our eyes to the world around us; for if the gods depart, we can rely only on one another and on our own goodness.
When
31 March 2010
21:00–23:00
Where
“La Tinaia” Auditorium, Parco Corsini – Fucecchio
