ELENAVANNONI
theatre
Bites by Kay Adshead
Italian traslation by Andrea Peghinelli
German traslation by Katharina Schneider
Teatro dell´Orologio Roma
Theater Engelbrot Berlin
The author:
I started to write Bites after hearing a woman from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) speak to the Fabian Society in London. As a liberal woman, I was astonished at my ignorance about Afghanistan. While our lives since the 1970's had been moving forward, their lives had been moving backwards. Women who had been doctors or university lecturers were now forced to stay at home, under pain of the most terrible punishment or even death.
At the same time, I was living for part of the year in Texas and was almost as surprised at what I found there. I was expecting lives out of the iconic TV series Dallas and instead I found Mexico's cousin. A life closer to the developing world than I had imagined, in the richest country in the world.
I was particularly fascinated by the power of the Second Baptist Church in the Lone Star State and at the discovery that they were the largest funders of Republican America.
Without wishing to appear trite, I saw some analogies between American religious fundamentalism and their attitude to women, and Afghanistan under the Taliban (and, unfortunately, the new reconstructed westernized Afghanistan).
Moving from the "greatest" democracy in the planet to the newest, Bites takes us back to Afghanistan via Texas. In The Last Diner at the End of the World, ravaged by war, a menu of love, death and revenge is served by the hired help. Seven courses make for a poetic feast of universal tales looking back to the forgotten war and forward to a nightmarish future.
Elena Vannoni's production of my play is visually witty and darkly intelligent, capturing the (hopefully) timeless and universal essence of the tales. She directs her talented and versatile cast boldly and with intuition and flair. I loved the total theatre of her production, which is beautiful, haunting, emotionally raw, and brave. She is an exceptionally skilled and sensitive interpreter of my work.
Kay Adshead
Director Elena Vannoni
Collaboration Roberto Mantovani
Stage Gabriele Salvaggio
Costume Cristina Gamberini
Dramatic Advisor Katharina Schneider
Music/Sound Lorenzo Brusci
Cast
Carlo Emanuele Esposito, Tabea Heynig, Marc-Gratian Iancu, Hille Luettmer
Alice Masprone, Veronika Steinböck, Dominique Wendler
Assistents Director Martina Neu,
Cecilia Nocella
Organisation Kirsten Wiegand, Marina Sgarri, Bettina Jänisch
"Elena Vannoni's exciting new production of my play "Bites", for the wonderfully innovative and ambitous young company Teatrificio, is visually witty and darkly intelligent, coaxing performances of real emotional depth from her talented and versatile cast. Total Theatre."
Kay Adshead
Photo: Azzurra Primavera
