Of the Nightingale
Motus
Presented by La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
photos 3,5: Andrea Macchia | all other photos: Lorenza Daverio
“A high-pitched cry, a fire that blazes, a light that tears the future from the darkness and returns to speak in the horizon of the present.” – TEATRO E CRITICA
“We were never meant to survive.” – Audre Lorde
For more than thirty years, the Italian performance collective Motus has proven to be uniquely skilled at rendering the urgency and contradictions of the modern world through the blade of theater. Tonight, they retell an ancient story. The cursed fortuneteller Cassandra sits in a dark temple, knowing her own death and the end of everyone she loves and hates is fast approaching. No one will listen. She is damned to die unheard but still she cries out furiously, incomprehensibly, like a trapped bird. In this feminist retelling of the Trojan prophecy myth, Motus’ Cassandra is the brilliant Stefania Tansini, a fearless performer who presents as both vulnerable and dangerous in her embodiment of the Homeric character’s foretold tragedy. Utilizing intricate choreography, aggressively challenging sound and outrageously visceral physicality, Of the Nightingale I Envy the Fate recasts a millennia-old archetype of victimhood as a very human, very vital powerhouse.
SCHEDULE
Wednesday, January 10th @ 8:30 pm
Thursday, January 11th @ 8:30 pm
Friday, January 12th @ 8:30 pm
Saturday, January 13th @ 8:30 pm
Sunday, January 14th @ 3:00 pm (+ postshow talkback)
Monday, January 15th @ 8:30 pm
Run time: 45 minutes
CREDITS
Concept and Direction: Daniela Nicolò and Enrico Casagrande
Performed by Stefania Tansini
Dramaturgy: Daniela Nicolò
Live sound design: Enrico Casagrande
Soundscapes: Demetrio Cecchitelli
Light design and technical direction: Theo Longuemare
Songs R.Y.F. (Francesca Morello)
Latex props: _vvxxii
Dress: Boboutic Firenze
Assistant costume and set designer: Susana Botero
Video: Vladimir Bertozzi
Production: Francesca Raimondi
Organization and Logistics: Shaila Chenet and Matilde Morri
Communication: Dea Vodopi
Promotion: Ilaria Depari
International distribution: Lisa Gilardino
Graphics: Federico Magli
Illustration: Lilsis.art
Presented in partnership with Ater Fondazione and Regione Emilia-Romagna Cultura d’Europa
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Motus was founded in Rimini in 1991 by Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Nicolò. At the forefront of Italian and European performing arts, the company has received recognition in the form of numerous awards including three Ubu Awards and prestigious special prizes. The two free-thinking directors have taken their shows all around the world: from Under the Radar (New York) to TransAmériques and PuSh Festival (Canada), Santiago a Mil (Chile), Fiba Festival (Buenos Aires), the Adelaide Festival and Midsumma Festival (Australia), Taipei Arts Festival (Taiwan), Hong Kong International Black Box Festival, MITsp (Brazil) and all over Europe. Enrico Casagrande and Daniela Nicolò directed Santarcangelo Festival in 2010 and 2020/2021 editions. In 2023 they also started to curate Supernova, the first contemporary performative art festival in Rimini.
FUNDING
A Motus production with TPE / Festival delle Colline Torinesi/Fondazione Merz. Artistic residencies hosted by progetto residenze artistiche Lavanderie a vapore Torino, Centro nazionale di produzione della danza Virgilio Sieni, AMAT Marche with the support of MiC, Regione Emilia-Romagna.
