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

BIO