“Capinera,” the final performance of Playing Memories ‘ first artistic residency will take place in Milan on Monday, December 16, 2024 at h 4 p.m. at the Base Milano cultural center.
The Playing Memories project is finally entering its prime: after weeks of intense work, experimentation and dialogue between artistic languages, the participants are ready to present the result of their journey to the public. “Capinera” will be an artistic exploration inspired by Giovanni Verga ‘s novel “Story of a Blackcap,” with elements of dance, theater, music and visual arts.
The artistic residency, held over two weeks at the Saint Louis headquarters in Milan’s Viale Bodio 37, was a lively laboratory of creativity, bringing together talents from different artistic disciplines to give life to a collective creation, where the confrontation of different perspectives generated a work that blends tradition and innovation, technique and improvisation.
This event is not only a performance, but also a celebration of collaboration and the transformative power of art. In fact, the theater project is inspired by, updating and reversing, the epistolary novel “Storia di una capinera” by Giovanni Verga.
The main character, however, is not Maria — the 19-year-old girl locked up already at the age of seven in a Catania convent and forced to become a cloistered nun — but ‘Capinera,’ the alter Maria, the stage name of a woman artist and singer-songwriter who took refuge in an anti-violence center.
During the sessions, she finds herself going over the four salient events of her life and, through this journey, she will try to find herself and free herself from guilt by telling and expressing herself. So the narrative begins at a point in the story where almost everything has happened.
The events that the author/songwriter retraces are flashbacks linked by the common thread of images, music, dance, and noise.
The underlying inspiration behind the project, which is the brainchild of Beatrice Goracci, a third-year student in Saint Louis’ Level I academic course in Pop-Rock singing, revolves around the creation of a female story with a protagonist who does not suffer (Maria) but who, thanks to the help of her mentor, acts (Capinera) for a final regaining of self following catharsis through the strength and power of art.
Maria is forced into seclusion by her family. Then she falls in love with Nino. And he dies of love. Capinera is forced by her husband to give up her passion for music, not to see her friends, not to go out, not to call. She still remains in love with it. And he almost dies. Almost.
The heart of the project is that, through art, ‘Capinera’ acknowledges trauma (physical and psychological violence, guilt and inadequacy), embraces it and deals with it. Ending up resenting the swarming of a new life.
The performance “Capinera” will be premiered at the “Base Milano” cultural center at 34 Ambrogio Bergognone da Fossano Street on Dec. 16 at 4 p.m., with the participation of:
PERFORMER
Beatrice Goracci voice and creator
Maria Vittoria Benigni electric bass
Sabrina La Macchia directing
Penelope Massa actress
Rachele Amore piano/keyboard/vocals
Stefano Corradini drums
Michele Gualano sound designer
Francesco Freschet guitars
Chiara Scaglianti piano/keyboard/vocals
Kart Laidmale visual artist
Eva Lotta Kliimask choreographer
Nets Ann Niimann choreographer
Aoi Fujiwara dancer
Noa Hirasawa dancer
Helena Frias Ollero dancer
Carolina Cecilia Marchi dancer
