For the past ten years the amateur theater group in the little town of S. Agata dei Goti, has been masterfuly directed by my next door neighbor, the retired comedy actress Hilde Maria Renzi, has put on a play in neapolitan dialect by Eduardo de Filippo. This year’s offering, Fortuna con la “F” Maiuscola, débuted inside the courtyard of the town’s 17^th century episcopio, or bishopric, and was filled to the brim with men, women, children, and local dignitaries. In its 11^th season this is such social a high point that the show is prolonged for four days, allowing the whole town to see the show. Tickets are free.

But who could have forseen that this year Italy would be still be in the European Championship playoffs?! For days people were talking of nothing else. The local bars had set up improvised screens with big white bed sheets. At 8 p.m. people were already arriving, armed with chairs, flags and anxiously tooting their whistles. As I walked towards the outdoor theatre, I wondered if there would really be anybody willing to forego the excruciating excitement to see an old Eduardo de Filippo play…

At 9 o’clock there were 10 old women sitting in a sea of empty green chairs. However, in dribs and drabs, slowly but surly more and more people began to arrive. By 9:30 the episcopio was practically full: women of all ages had decided to come to the theater, leaving behind their husbands and sons to watch their soccer team.

As the lights were about to go down an old woman looked around and chuckled to her friends: “It looks like we’re all widows for one night!”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 9:26 am and is filed under Articles, Events, Italian Notebook, Odds and Ends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.