TBD Public Theatre Workshop

This theatre workshop is part of a context-based, performative, collective research project with Ippolito Chiarello and his homeless theatre allies, co-curated by Alessandra Pomarico.Italian actor, director and teacher Ippolito Chiarello has developed over the years the concept of a homeless theatre, turning the precariousness and instability of his profession into a tool for a more direct relationship with the audience. With a small box as a podium, and a number of texts à la carte, he took the street of Italy and Europe, winning the attention of passers-by to whom he would try to sell a piece, or a fragment thereof, in exchange for a fee established according to the length of the work. Through these performances, and along with a wide movement of performers that have formed both a company and a yearly nation-wide flash mob event, Chiarello has not only been able to make a living, but most importantly has rediscovered the power of a un-mediated dialogue with the audience. In this active and emotional relationship with regular people in the street, actors may become collectors of stories that are often untold, catalysts for necessary discussions. The street becomes a stage that brings theatre back into daily life, reclaiming the original foundation of this political art, creating a moment for a democratic exercise, a modern agora where the hardest issues of society can be discussed openly in a public space.