The almost Dantean Trilogy tells of a word and its related drawing that one day decide to embark on a long journey. The word and the drawing are born in the depths of Black hell. In the darkness, words and drawings mix, search for each other, fall to the ground, get lost, and find each other again. The word ماي (water) finds its drawing and they get lost heading towards the sea. Air that leads to the sea! They enter Red purgatory: two cities, one big and one small, a universe made up of the colors of light. The drawing and the word have become a little girl who, to leave purgatory, follows the road to the sea. The drawing and the word will find space in White paradise to rest on the façade of an ordinary building.
The Divine Comedy becomes a metaphor for arrival and departure towards new routes, a borrowed image from literature to remind us that the spirit of journeying—into the past, present, and future—exists in worlds we have yet to sense, even though they are all around us. In the almost Dantean Trilogy, Dante is a little girl who has lost her way and wanders without seeking the path home.
The almost Dantean Trilogy is a theatrical work about colors written by Alessandro Taddei and co-directed with Enrico Caravita. Comprising 40 adolescents from Palestinian, Turkish-German, Italian, and Lebanese backgrounds, it is a journey from the depths of the underground to the sea. Starting in Jenin with Black hell, moving through Red purgatory in Berlin and Alfonsine, and arriving at the sea in Tyre (South Lebanon) with White paradise, the Ponte Radio Group has recreated, both on and off stage, a theater and a dual life moment that can be experienced, first of all, within oneself and then in contact with children and adults.
“With Ahmed Maher Jamal, Ali Omer Frihat, Basem Omer Awad, Mohammad Waseem Aljaiuossi, Feker Taher Ateeq, Haya Ghazi Abufarha, Khalil Ghasan Habbalrih, Layth Abd Alkareem Shalamish, Mohammad Ra’ed Abukhalil, Naser Ra’ed Abukhalil, Omar Ahmed Shalamish, Qossay Roshdi Shaban, Rimah Mousa Ararawi, Motasem Abukhalil, Marco Pattuelli, Lorenzo Cavallini, Leonardo Ricciardi, Cihad Çevik, Giulia Marzocchi, Lorenzo Beretta, Francesca Costa, Maren Marie Seidler, Diego Cavallini, Tommaso Costa, Margherita Ricciardi, Haidar Hassan, Abd Al-Aziz, Hadi Al-Mawla, Ahmad Sarries, Mohammed Sarries, Hassan Baydoun, Issa Ghabri, Ahmad Delbani, Rayan Stanbuly, Hussein Salman, Mohammad Sekmani, Ibrahim Omeis, Mohammad Kassir.
Scenic play, direction of the workshops: Enrico Caravita and Alessandro Taddei. Lights: Riccardo Clementi, Giovanni Belvisi. Music: Alessandro Taddei. Photography: Virginia Paradinas, Roberto Beretta. Video: Ali Beidoun. Technical assistant: Jan Barbieri. Fantasies: Alessandro Taddei. A production: Napoli Teatro Festival – Ponte Radio – Nuovo Teatro Nuovo. The Ponte Radio group thanks: Marilisa and Carmela Salernitano, Pasquale and Giovanna, Mario, Renato, Salvo, Gaetano, Lello, and all the technicians from NTFI who worked on setting up the almost Dantean Trilogy at the Real Albergo dei Poveri and the Nuovo Teatro Nuovo in Naples. Omar Suleiman and Isham from the Caffè Arabo in Piazza Bellini in Naples, Daniele Barbieri, Clément Delage, Jules Ribis. Marianna Sepe, Roberto, and all the people of Naples who supported us in this new adventure. A special thanks to the underground of Jenin, the lights of Berlin, the houses of Alfonsine, and the port of Tyre. To the cities in revolt and the people waiting to depart. To las hermanas Empanadilla. To those who taught us to play with colors and to those who tried to prevent us, giving us even more strength to keep walking. From time to time, time passes.”
