7:30 a.m.: the prize for the first day goes to professor Agustinho Chipula, who goes jogging in the morning! Without his jacket and tie, though.

No sign of life from the others yet. 🙂

* * *

Today’s diary includes a meeting at 9.00 a.m. with Jacopo Fo. Topic of the day: telling. Stories heard, personal stories, invented stories, everything. A memorable brain storming session!

The round of presentations starts from Jacopo Fo, who tells anecdotes about his childhood, some brief stories about his parents, he describes the activities at Alcatraz, goes back over his career. I discover, for the first time, that Jacopo started acting on stage when he was 30. I discover, in a manner of speaking, that Dario Fo and Franca Rame truly revolutionised how theatre is done.

I discover that some of us, Italians, the staff, the interpreters, didn’t even know each other until yesterday, I discover that we all have a nice recollection tied to Franca and Dario. The reminder of a particular performance, a feeling, a desire for change. Franca contributed to women’s liberation in the 60s and 70s, Dario took theatre away from the large theatre halls and into the squares of small towns.
Today, taking part in a theatrical representation in a square is normal. In the 60s it wasn’t, Dario Fo “invented” it.

Then it’s the turn of the rest of the group, one by one they stand up and tell.
Who struck me most?

Professor Chipula breaks protocol and begins his presentation by thanking God with a prayer. Yes, a prayer dedicated to Jacopo: I thank God and you (looking at Jacopo) for the gift of knowledge that he gave you and that you transmit to us.

Professor Chipula is an orphan. He tells us that he was never breast-fed by his mother but always drank cow’s milk. Even today, he says, when I see a cow I feel hungry.

He did, however, manage to study, first at Palma and then at Pemba, and become a professor of the Portuguese language in Palma. Together with Ana Bela they are part of the do Funzionarios theatre company.

He explains that the government asks companies to transmit specific health or public utility messages to the population, they write their script and present it on stage.

In the afternoon we begin speaking of “stories”. Jacopo asks each one to tell a funny story about their lives, as if they were telling it to a friend. The idea is that natural acting, the actor that is inside every one of us, will emerge in this way.

Jacopo is very clear about this: I won’t teach you how to act, you are already very good actors, here we are trying to find the best way to tell, discover what secrets are needed to get the audience to listen.

* * *

Who struck me most?
Arlete. When she was a child, she lived in the Mafalala quarter of Maputi, very popular at the time with bandits. One day shots rang out, the family ran away, forgetting that she was sleeping in bed. She woke up, alone, with shots outside, and she wet the bed, then hid under it.
She remembers being more afraid of her grandmother shouting at her because she wet the bed rather than of the bandits.
Instead, her grandmother hugged her when she returned, then pulled her close, and this became one of the best memories of her life.

* * *

What will we be eating?

“Spaghetti alla puttanesca”, quiche with cabbage and ricotta cheese, sweet and sour bell peppers, various raw and cooked vegetables. The group confessed that they were not used to such a choice of dishes and that they will slowly but surely taste everything.

I honestly couldn’t tell them that the menu changed every day. 🙂

Incredible! Puttanesca in Portuguese is puttanesca…