Young Theatre Contest
Saturday 1st June 2019
9PM Pietro Aretino Theatre
Original title: Audizione
Le Ore Piccole
Rome
by Chiara Arrigoni
directed by Francesco Toto
with Chiara Arrigoni, Andrea Ferrara, Massimo Leone
Lasts 1h
Synopsis
In a run-down basement, and audition is taking place. It is for a role that can yield a return of one hundred thousand euros in one night. The fundamental characteristic of the participants is one: to be seropositive. Between the two contestants, Sarah and Miguel, only the most driven – or the most desperate? – will manage to conquer the role, and demonstrate to the examiner, Mr. T., that they are able to overcome any guilt they are feeling.
Piece after piece, the audience understands the task that the two contestants have to carry out: to participate to an orgy for the bored wealthy who want to try something hard in order to feel alive. It is not a conventional orgy: it is a sort of ritual for an argument that has lost the value of life, a sexual russian roulette with a mysterious guest: somebody affected by HIV. The interrogation is persistent as Mr. T. digs into Sarah and Miguel’s lives to find the motivation that pushes them to be there, alone in front of a terrible question: how much is my dignity?
Contamination The theme of the play is the contamination, meant as the archaic meaning of miasma, the infection considered as guilt, represented in the history of Disease. While the virus was linked to the idea of guilt, during the HIV age, in this play, it transforms into a necessary prerogative in order to make it to the audition.
In a few words How much is your dignity?