Cosmic Journey
A mysterious and charismatic figure, dressed in black, over 3 metres tall, walks through the streets of the city holding a large sceptre depicting the planet Earth. He is an old Atlas, and his travelling companions form a fascinating team with him.
They draw spectators and passers-by towards the end point of their journey. The audience is captivated, their eyes fixed on the unusual team as they begin to tell a story without words, made up of gestures and glances: the story of their quest.
The search for someone! They study the audience around them and engage them in playing with them using large white spheres. The spheres are like empty planets, without identity, and they are looking for someone who knows how to get involved, give life, colour and history to these white spheres.
They arrive at a large square, an open space where a large Sun, a pale Moon and all the planets of the solar system are displayed. Finally, they stop in front of the large planet Earth, the only one floating in the air a few metres above the ground. They contemplate its abundance of air and water and listen, together with the audience, to a poem, one of those that will accompany the poetic journey of the show from this moment until the end.
There, a dance begins until, among many, they choose a young girl, a beautiful soul, smiling, full of emotional energy and a desire to learn and explore. Her eyes shine with wonder and curiosity. Atlas, with a gentle smile, invites her to join them and hands her his sceptre, his little planet Earth.
When the dance is over, the team welcomes the girl with a hug, surrounds her and secures her to the large flying planet, which slowly lifts her off the ground.
The girl watches in amazement as the square recedes beneath her feet. Atlas accompanies her in a dance that is like a game; they resemble an old grandfather pushing his granddaughter on a swing. Until she begins to gain height, rising higher and higher towards the sky.
The scene is magical! The dancers hold and move the large flying Earth with long ropes. The whole team, working together in unison, takes the young girl on a visit to all the planets scattered across the large square, including the Moon and the Sun. The Cosmic Journey begins!
The audience holds its breath as the girl descends close to the people and then returns to dance in the air. Each spectator is transported on an imaginary journey through the universe, a journey that speaks of adventure, discovery and hope.
That hope recounted in Mariangela Gualtieri's last poem, Bambina Mia, which closes the show as the young woman climbs higher and higher, now in complete harmony with the great planet she must protect, the legacy of the old Atlas from whom she has taken up the torch.
INHERITANCE
What will we leave behind for those who remain on this earth after us, and how and to what extent do we concern ourselves with this legacy?
Now that the climate crisis is dramatically disrupting our daily lives, we are wondering what kind of natural environment we are leaving to future generations.
Today, as war seems to be returning as an absurd means of resolving conflicts despite centuries of learning, we wonder what kind of moral environment we are leaving behind...and how many innocent deaths!
Today, when hatred for diversity and poverty stimulates language and communication full of bitterness and resentment, we wonder what kind of social environment we are leaving to our ‘children’.
We ask ourselves questions and report only questions to the public, lacking answers like everyone else, feeling lost.
We ask the public, all together, united in the square, in the same condition, to raise their eyes to the sky, to seek through the mystery of creation, the poetry of words, the wonder of images, HOPE.
...aware of at least one small thing: that the only way forward is to stay together, as if watching a great show.
