Rehearsals, rehearsals, and even more rehearsals.

And rehearsals again. Jacopo tells us that Dario Fo became another person when he rehearsed a performance. He became angry, shouted, he tugged the other actors. Then, to calm himself, he painted a set design or a canvas. When he returned he would start all over again. And rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals.

Always the same text repeated hundreds of times, each movement must be tried and tried again, only when the whole performance flows in your blood, only when you can no longer stand hearing it, are you ready to appear on stage.

Then we have a plot outline in our hands, just a dialogue and a scene have been fully written, a first draft in any case which will be turned upside-down, rewritten, maybe even eliminated.

What’s more, we are working with three languages: Italian, Portuguese and Swahili. But we are still distant from the Swahili version….

A monton of work, as Mario says…

Mario…he has grown so fond of the group and this project that he doesn’t want to go home any more! He has lunch with us, rests in the afternoon on my bed 🙂 and in the afternoon he works hard with the rehearsals. Today he “arranged” one of the songs.

Text by Adelino (junior) who last night said “I’ll write the song” and this morning brought it to us!

The actors clap their hands in time and become the background singers, Adelino sings words of love, then a white cover appears on his head (symbol of the bride) and a capulana (traditional Mozambique fabric) tightened around the waist gives the impression of a baby being carried.

My judgement is clearly biased, but it’s all just fabulous!!!

At a certain point, silence falls around the table, Agostinho looks behind him and says: “The devil has just gone by!”. Should we add another place setting?