L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2024 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano E v e r y w e e k e n d throughout next m o n t h , t h e M a r s h S a n Francisco will open its doors to a new show called Lettere D'Amore ( L e t t e r s o f L o v e ) , a c o m - pelling theatrical monologue written by renowned Italian writer and feminist activist Dacia Maraini and per- f o r m e d b y F r a n c e s c a Fanti. The venue chosen for the occasion is home to more than one hundred fifty per- formances every year and, while most people first visit it as audience members, they o f t e n e n d u p a c t i v e l y involved, by enrolling in a workshop, coming to a sing- along night, volunteering their services, participating in internship programs or maybe even testing their tal- ents. The Marsh started as a Monday night performance series at the Hotel Utah in 1989, moved to Morty's in North Beach the following y e a r , t h e n i n t o t h e b a c k room at Café Beano. The col- laboration had expanded to i n c l u d e p e r f o r m e r s , t h e a u d i e n c e , a n d e v e r y o n e involved in supporting the work that goes on at a the- ater. In December 1992, The M a r s h f o u n d i t s c u r r e n t home in the Mission district with an intimate 110-seat t h e a t e r i n a 1 2 , 0 0 0 s q f t building. Lettere D'Amore is a per- formance starring and trans- lated by Francesca Fanti. It immerses the audience into the depths of love, loss, and f a m i l y . T h e c o n n e c t i o n between Fanti and Maraini started back in the day and is the result of the exploration of opportunities and new ventures. Dacia Maraini is a well- known, celebrated Italian writer and feminist activist who left an indelible mark on the literary world. Her work, often inspired by per- sonal experiences and soci- etal observations, focuses on profound themes of love, loss, and the complexities of the human condition, partic- ularly women. Maraini's life has been marked by both p e r s o n a l a n d p o l i t i c a l engagement: her early expe- r i e n c e s , i n c l u d i n g h e r imprisonment in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II, have deeply influenced her writing. Her travels with Alberto Moravia, as well as her close friends P i e r P a o l o P a s o l i n i a n d Maria Callas, further broad- ened her worldview and pro- vided rich material for her work. A central theme in Marai- n i ' s w r i t i n g i s w o m e n ' s experiences and the chal- lenges they face in a patriar- chal society; her characters often defy traditional gender roles, seeking personal free- dom and challenging societal expectations. Maraini's femi- nist perspective is evident in her works, which shed light on issues such as female sex- uality, motherhood, and the silencing of women's voices. Through her powerful story- telling and commitment to social justice, Maraini con- tinues to inspire and empow- er readers, leaving a lasting legacy as one of Italy's most i m p o r t a n t c o n t e m p o r a r y writers. Thanks to this sensitivity and profound knowledge of Italian literature, Maraini decided to give voice to a love story hidden between the pages of history. The Her- mitage of San Vito Chietino, a p l a c e f u l l o f c h a r m a n d mystery, becomes the perfect setting for this exciting story. D ' A n n u n z i o ' s u n p u b - lished letters to Barbara L e o n i , w h i c h w e r e p r e - s e r v e d f o r y e a r s , r e v e a l a more intimate and passion- ate side of the poet, and a deep and tormented love. I n t h i s p e r f o r m a n c e , a w a r d - w i n n i n g a c t r e s s Francesca Fanti will take the s t a g e t o p o r t r a y M a r a , a woman whose life takes an unexpected turn upon dis- covering a collection of pas- sionate love letters written by t h e i c o n i c I t a l i a n p o e t G a b r i e l e D ' A n n u n z i o . A s Mara immerses herself in D ' A n n u n z i o ' s e v o c a t i v e words, she starts on a jour- ney of self-discovery, explor- ing the complexities of her relationship with her late m o t h e r a n d t h e e n d u r i n g power of love across genera- tions. Francesca Fanti isn't new to these powerful collabora- tions, as shown by her work with Francis Ford Coppola when she played the leading role of Filomena Corrado in Distant Vision, a live cinema e x p e r i m e n t a l p r o d u c t i o n d i r e c t e d b y C o p p o l a a s a month-long project at UCLA. A versatile actress, she has p r o v i d e d v o i c e w o r k f o r m a n y p r o j e c t s i n c l u d i n g M a d a g a s c a r 3 : E u r o p e ' s M o s t W a n t e d , t h e O s c a r - nominated Disney-Pixar suc- cess Luca, and the Oscar- w i n n i n g G u i l l e r m o D e l Toro's Pinocchio. We talked to Francesca Fanti a few days before the o p e n i n g a n d a s k e d s o m e q u e s t i o n s a b o u t h o w t h i s opportunity came to life. "I've hosted other one- woman performances at The Marsh in the past," she told u s . " I n p a r t i c u l a r , w i t h O r g a s m o A d u l t o E s c a p e s from The Zoo by Dario Fo and Franca Rame, I won the Bay Area Critics Award for Best Solo Performance and the ADA Artistic Director Achievement Award in LA for best actress in comedy. I stayed in contact with them and I was just waiting for the Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. right project to come back." What kind of prepara- tion is needed for this sort of event? I ' m d o i n g e v e r y t h i n g myself so the preparation is endless. I've done this show other times: this is the first though I've directed myself, so there was a lot of prepara- tion for that, too. I'm happy I m a d e t h a t c h o i c e . I f t h e question was specific to act- i n g , w e w o u l d a l l n e e d a master class to explain the preparation for a one-person s h o w , m a y b e i t ' s a n i d e a worth exploring! Can you tell us about your relationship with Dacia Maraini and how this collaboration was born? I met Dacia Maraini sev- e r a l t i m e s a n d a t v a r i o u s events before 2009. It was always quick meetings and exchanges of ideas. In 2009, F r a n c e s c a V a l e n t e , t h e n director of the Italian Cultur- al Institute in Los Angeles, asked me to present a piece o f t h e s h o w t o c e l e b r a t e Dacia's visit and, on that occasion, Dacia and I began communicating about the p e r f o r m a n c e . A f t e r t h a t event, which was a great suc- cess, Dacia invited me to Italy to present the entire show at the Teatro Marruci- no in Chieti and in Pescara for a festival dedicated to the poetry of Gabriele D'Annun- z i o . T h e n , t h e s h o w w a s repeated over the years for s i n g l e e v e n t s , t h e l a s t o f w h i c h w a s f o r E m a n u e l e Amendola, director of the IIC in LA in October 2022. F r o m t h a t m o m e n t , I received several offers to take it to the theater for a full run in LA, but I decided to open at The Marsh in San Francisco first. I would like to take it to New York City, we are currently looking for fundings there, too. What should the audi- e n c e e x p e c t f r o m t h i s show? I present the entire work created around real, unpub- lished letters by Gabriele D ' A n n u n z i o t h a t D a c i a received as a gift. For those w h o a r e w o n d e r i n g , t h e entire work is translated into E n g l i s h , s o d e f i n i t e l y thought and produced for a broader audience. Lettere d'Amore is on at t h e M a r s h T h e a t r e f r o m N o v e m b e r 1 6 t h r o u g h December 15, with shows at 8pm on Saturdays and 5pm on Sundays. Tickets avail- able online and at the door. Francesca Fanti's monologue of Lettere D'Amore by Dacia Maraini opens at the Marsh Theatre SERENA PERFETTO LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

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