France – "And the animals reappeared" by Teatro delle Ariette
Since October 20, Teatro delle Ariette has been in Calais, guest of Le Channel, which welcomed them many times in the past and where the company is now 'at home'.
Paola Berselli and Stefano Pasquini present And the animals reappeared, a show based on a text by Catherine Zambon – written in 2020 during the first lockdown –, enriched with autobiographical content in pure "Ariette" style.
It is a disturbing story, set in a dystopian future. After the Age of the Great Contagions and the long period of Faunal-Health Reorganization – during which all the animals deemed guilty of being carriers of diseases were eliminated –, a 70 years-old woman must confront the reality of a new world, modern, cruel, hardened, and merciless.
Paola Berselli and Stefano Pasquini fell in love with it, because «Zambon’s text did not speak of France or Italy, of the animal cause or of climate change, not only at least, but it spoke above all of us, of our anxieties, of our desires, of the present that we all are living. (…) Besides the dystopian science fiction content, we were struck by the protagonist’s humanity, her compassions for all the forms of life».
Once the story is over, Paola and Stefano invite the audience to reflect and, as usual with Teatro delle Ariette, you do it in front of a steaming plate of tagliatelle.
Four performances of And the animals reappeared have already been staged, further five are scheduled until October 29 (at different times).
Le Channel, scène nationale de Calais