(5 April, 2017) A profound reflection on the mafia and its religious devotion. Thanks to the support of the Italian Cultural Institute of Sydney, the acclaimed director and actor Vincenzo Pirrotta returns to Australia with a moving show on mafia and its contradictions. After “Terramatta” ‘s success in 2015, Pirrotta now proposes his new monologue “La ballata della balàte” whose protagonist is a mafioso who preaches the word of God from his den while he practices the cruel and distorted ways of the mafia. The Australian troupe opens today April 5th at the Street Theatre of Canberra in collaboration with the Italian Embassy. On April 7th and 8th the show will be performed at the Italian Forum of Sydney (21-23 Norton Street, Leichhardt). The mise-en-scene was characterised by the duality between the sacred and the profane, touching the apex of adoration of the ostentatious containing ‘il pizzino’ – the order of the mafia. These clashing elements exist in the mind of the mafioso like the blood of Christ and that of the victims of the mafia. The set design is very simple, consisting of only a play on lighting that emphasised how the mafioso’s den transforms into a place of worship composed by waxes, a table and two chairs where he recites a rosary while wearing a crown of thorns and a noose around his neck. The monologue is entirely in Sicilian dialect, a linguistic choice determined by its natural expressive capacity to strengthen the character and to emphasize his roots in the Sicilian territory where he grew up. In addition to the words is also a play on phonetics – the evocative power of sounds that make up a language. (red)

VINCENZO PIRROTTA

Vincenzo Pirrotta, acclaimed playwright, director and actor, studied at I.N.D.A. (Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico) in Syracuse (Sicily) with Mimmo Cuticchio from whom he learned the art of the ‘cuntu siciliano’. Pirrotta has won numerous awards and is also the founder of the theatre company ‘Esperidio’. He has performed on theatre stages worldwide and today represents one of the leading voices in contemporary Italian theatre.