Tessitrici di Fiabe

The Cambridge University Italian Society and Ars in Fieri - International Theatre Company present 

Tessitrici di Fiabe

Weavers of Fairy Tales

Freely based on Italian fairy tales adapted for the stage by Ludovico Nolfi and Elena Sottilotta, directed by Ludovico Nolfi.

DATES

• Friday, March 13th - 7PM
• Saturday, March 14th - 4PM and 7PM
• Sunday, March 15th - 2PM
  

The performance will be in Italian with English captions displayed live.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Running time

The performance lasts approximately 1 hour with no interval.

Language

Played in Italian with English surtitles. Captions and translations in English will be displayed on a screen above the stage.

Tickets

Online ticket sale ends 1 hour before each show. Tickets are also available at the door 30 minutes before each show.

Please present your booking confirmation at the box office together with valid ID for concessions (i.e., Cambridge University students, CUIS members and those under 16). To guarantee a seat, children under 9 must hold a (free) reserved ticket

For more information about becoming a member of the CU Italian Society, please visit Becoming a Member – Cambridge University Italian Society or contact cuitaliansoc@gmail.com.

Sponsors

We extend our gratitude to all the businesses whose support made the organization of this event possible:

• Giovanni's, caffè and pizzeria
• Salento
• La Pizzica
  

A special acknowledgement to Mimmo Manes Graphics Design Studio for the poster and flyer design, and to Pia Bongiovanni for the script translation.

Donations

This year, Tessitrici di Fiabe will support Differenza Donna, an Italian association committed to protecting women’s rights and fighting gender-based violence.

Part of the show’s income will be donated to help Differenza Donna fight violence against women and girls in Italy and beyond, and to safeguard their rights and dignity.

Please, consider adding a donation at checkout while booking a ticket for the show. The suggested amount can be removed or modified. We sincerely thank all our donors.

SYNOPSIS

Once upon a time, in the oral and literary realm of fairy tales, stories travelled from voice to voice and from hearth to page, carrying the power to awaken fear and desire. Tessitrici di fiabe draws on the great Italian fairy-tale tradition that later spread across Europe.

The performance is inspired by Lo cunto de li cunti (The Tale of Tales), the baroque masterpiece of Neapolitan fairy tales by Giambattista Basile (1575–1632), and by the great nineteenth-century collectors of Sicilian folklore, Laura Gonzenbach (1842–1878) and Giuseppe Pitrè (1841–1916), whose death marks its 110th anniversary this year. Many of the tales Pitrè recorded were told to him by Agatuzza Messia, a gifted Sicilian storyteller whose voice still resonates through these narratives.

At the heart of the play stand Italian women who passed down fairy tales by word of mouth around the fireplace and within the domestic spaces of everyday life. Their stories were filled with hopes and struggles, with abductions and ordeals. Through them, they confronted the shadows of oppression and violence. Women’s courage lies at the centre of the staging, casting light on their imaginative narratives as a path towards justice and a way of reclaiming an alternative destiny.

HOW TO GET THERE

Access St John's College from the Porters' Lodge on Northampton Street (see map). The Palmerston Auditorium is located inside the Fisher Building.