At the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti on Saturday 3 December at 4.30 p.m. the first appointment with ‘Who kidnapped Father Christmas’.
The family theatre review ‘La Domenica dei Sogni‘, conceived by Vincenzo Cerami in 2009 to promote the love of theatre among the younger generations, is back.
From 3 December to 12 March, five shows will accompany children and their families throughout the winter period, a journey together with Italy’s best companies in the splendid setting of the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti on Sundays at 4.30 p.m. (save for the first show, that will be held on Saturday).
This year’s programme will kick off with two appointments in December. Saturday 3 will start with “Chi ha rapito Babbo Natale” (Who kidnapped Father Christmas), a play by the Compagnia Teatro Verde of Rome, winner of the 2003 City of Aosta Prize, by Andrea Calabretta and directed by Pino Strabioli.
In an unspecified future, there is only one huge city, whose inhabitants’ lives are strictly focused around work. To avoid distractions, all forms of entertainment are banned. The mayor, the terrible Mr. Pofferbach, believes that any form of entertainment is detrimental to the functioning of the city. Creativity and independent thinking must be inhibited, only then will people be happy. The first victims of this terrible policy can only be the puppets: crazy, ingenious, irreverent and unpredictable as they are, they are enemy number one. That is why they are forced to live confined to the Bingo Bongo Bar. In this context a real mystery happens: someone has kidnapped Father Christmas! This is a case for Filo, the detective, who sets out in search of Father Christmas and finds himself investigating among shadow puppets, glove and stick puppets, marottes, puppets and other incredible characters. Crime, adventure, mystery, music, madness and laughter accompany the audience towards the solution of the enigma and at the end Father Christmas, free again, will celebrate with the children present.
The second event of 2022, “Sapore di sale. L’odissea di una sardina” (Taste of salt. The odyssey of a sardine) by the Compagnia La Baracca Testoni Ragazzi of Bologna (led by Bruno Cappagli and Fabio Galanti), will be held on Sunday 18 December.
The other three appointments are in 2023. The first is scheduled for 15 January, when the Teatro Nuovo Gian Carlo Menotti will host “Pinocchio“, a show by the Fondazione Teatro Ragazzi e Giovani di Torino (devised and directed by Luigina Dagostino, with Claudio Dughera, Daniel Lascar, Claudia Martore), while on 5 February it will be the turn of “La fiaba di Celeste” by the Compagnia La Piccionaia, directed by Gianni Franceschini.
The final show will be “Annibale memorie di un elefante” by the Compagnia Teatro Gioco Vita, scheduled for Sunday 12 March. The project, dramaturgy and direction is by Nicola Cavallari, with Giorgio Branca, Nicola Cavallari and Tommaso Pusant Pagliarini.
