The protagonist of the day is once again Mario Pirovano.

“La fame dello Zanni” (The hunger of Zanni) is the starting point, each one of them will recite a small piece in front of the others. Not knowing the text, we will work on the words further on, the group must concentrate on movement, gestures. The concepts of the theatre piece must be communicated using the body.

Mario explains about never touching the stage mask or the face, he explains perspectives, the different viewing points of the audience according to where they are sitting. He speaks about movement lightness, delicacy, expanse, slowness, space and balance. The actor fakes a fall but never completely loses his balance.

One by one the Mozambicans alternate in the centre of the stage. They all try twice, the first time on their own, the second with the assistance and advice of Mario.

Some of them, 5, maybe 6 out of 7, have never acted in a comedy or taken part in such an animated and complex recital. In addition, they are alone on the “stage”, another thing that is probably new to them. During our mission in Mozambique we never once saw a performance with one actor alone on the stage, there were always companies, groups.

Mario takes the Mozambicans one by one and makes them move with him, he explains that every movement is like a dance, then a more brusque movement is made to change the rhythm.

The difference, the improvement, between the first attempt and the second is exciting.

How the Mozambicans have become involved is also exciting. They listen carefully to Mario, who speaks a language between Portuguese and Veneto dialect. Anyone who has doubts asks a pregunta (question), they answer each other, they give advice, they correct. And they understand everything! Professor Chipula recaps the plot and there are no mistakes!

Another extraordinary side effect is happiness. The group is now happy. Recovering from the journey, settling in, entering into the idea of a stage on the theatre took 3 days. Now the atmosphere is different, they laugh, make fun of each other. Bruno has become the “father”, Tiziana the “mother”, Adelino junior made me listen to his latest song. He’s a rapper, his stage name is Mr Kedo, and he works with Safina, Miss Zaina.

Afternoon: the monologue changes, from “A fome do Zanni” to “Johan Padan a la descoverta de le Americhe”. Mario acts, then explains, we stop for a moment on the concept of ship, hold, bridge, they are thinking about fishing boats,

Mario says: “No, they are enormous boats, as big as this house”.

They all look at the house and say: “Ahhh!”

After the monologue we finish by speaking about Mario’s personal experience. The group is always interested in knowing about what Mario feels before performances, how he feels after, one asks if those movements, that ability to speak with his body is a “gift”.

I love them!

* * *

What will be we eating?
We’re giving the group a taste of all the specialities of our country, a different typical dish each day.

Today is the turn of tagliatelle alla Bolognese, made with veal sauce. The two from Maputo know this dish, it is on the menu of a restaurant in the Mozambican capital, but for the others it’s a complete novelty.

Then chicken curry, different raw and cooked vegetables, we have them every day, roast potatoes, rice. The rice received a stadium-like cheer! Finally they could eat it as they like it: rice on the bottom, all the rest on top.