5th Edition of IN SCENA! Italian Theater Festival to Kick Off May 1st

Kairos Italy Theater (KIT), the preeminent Italian theater company in New York, will present the 5th annual IN SCENA! ITALIAN THEATER FESTIVAL NY.

This 15-day festival will offer 7 fully-staged productions from Italy, special events, readings, among other events and activities. All are presented in Italian and English or with English supertitles, curated by Kairos Italy Theater. Performances run May 1-15, 2017; a complete calendar of performance dates and venues is attached.

The fifth edition of In Scena features shows telling true stories about immigration (to and from Italy), the aftermath of WWII, discrimination of LGTB people under the Nazi regime, among others.

In Scena 2017 also inaugurates a broader collaboration with Free Verse, the creative program led by Dave Johnson. Besides adding more dates to its yearly event "Free Verse meets In Scena" at the NeON South Bronx probation center, events will be also held at the Brooklyn probation center and at the Visions Senior Center for the blind and visually impaired in Manhattan.

The closing night of the Festival will serve as the Award Ceremony of the Mario Fratti Award 2017, which has been awarded to "The Country of Swollen Faces" by Paolo Bignami.

In a statement released by the Festival, the Artistic Directors made the following announcement: "We at In Scena feel it is important to build bridges and open doors now more than ever. This has been the case ever since the first edition of in Scena, whose theme - the journey - meant for us the bridge between New York City and Italy, the ethnic melting pot, and the way inhabitants of a country see 'the other.' With this in mind, we have decided to open the doors of the festival even wider to the international audience in New York and to declare the Festival 'free of entry." Admission to In Scena 2017 is therefore free for all the shows."

ADMISSION IS FREE TO ALL EVENTS (with suggested donation). For more information and to RSVP for events visit www.inscenany.com or call 646-850-7056

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THE CALENDAR FOR IN SCENA! 2017 IS AS FOLLOWS:

All shows presented in Italian and English or with English supertitles and followed by a Q&A session with artists and special guests.

"TEN" - Dieci
by Andrej Longo, directed by Elena Dragonetti and Raffaella Tagliabue, with Elena Dragonetti

Narramondo (Liguria) - in collaboration with MilanoOff Isola Festival 2016.

From the homonymous book published by Adelphi (winner of Premio Bagutta, Premio Vittorini, Premio Chiara and finalist at the Premio Bancarella.)
Awards: Calandra 2014 (best show, best director, best actress), Special mention Festival Storie di Lavoro 2015.

One actress. Ten characters, ten monologues. Ten, like the Ten Commandments. Set against the backdrop of the city of Naples with its raw heart, its odors, its people, its colors.

may 3, 4:30pm - college of staten island

may 5, 8pm - casa italiana zerilli-marimo'

"Sweet home albania" - Albania casa mia
by Aleksandros Memetaj, directed by Giampiero Rappa, with Aleksandros Memetaj - Argot Production (Lazio)

Awards: Festival di Resistenza Museo Cervi, Gattatico - Bando Festival Avanguardie 2030, Bologna

Aleksandros was six months old when his parents - among many others - decided to leave Albania for Italy. This is the story of a child who will grow up away from his country, and of a father who will make great sacrifices for his family.

may 5, 6pm - casa italiana zerilli-marimo'

May 6, 3:30pm - BELMONT LIBRARY AND ENRICO FERMI CULTURAL CENTER

may 7, 2pm- the brick

"DER PUFF" - frammenti cantati di corpi internati
by Francesca Falchi with Francesca Falchi and Marta Proietti Orzella, musical direction Ennio Atzeni - L'eccezione (Cagliari, Sardinia)

With the support of the President of the Consiglio regionale della Sardegna

Women under the Nazi regime. Lesbians under the Nazi regime. Minorities that were discriminated against, forced to disappear, to "not exist." Songs intertwined with text portray the stories of these women.

may 10, 8pm - baad

may 13, 8pm - bernie wohl center at goddard riverside

"The invention with no future" - L'invenzione senza futuro
by Federico Giani, Mauro Parrinello, Celeste Gugliandolo, Francesca Montanino, directed by Mauro Parrinello, with Federico Giani, Celeste Gugliandolo, Mauro Parrinello - Compagnia dei Demoni/Offrome/Tedacà (Turin), co-produced by Teatro della Tosse di Genoa (Piedmont/Liguria)

Awards: Premio di Produzione - Selezione E45 Napoli Fringe Festival

Meet Louis and Auguste Lumière: their love for cinema, their love for life, and their search for love. Meet them through film scenes, sounds, projections, in a magical atmosphere that only cinema can recreate.

May 6, 2pm - BELMONT LIBRARY AND ENRICO FERMI CULTURAL CENTER

May 7, 2pm - bernie wohl center at goddard riverside

may 9, 6pm - casa italiana zerilli-marimo'

"MY IDEA" - La mia idea. Memoria di Joe Zangara
written and directed by Ernesto Orrico, with Ernesto Orrico, Massimo Garritano at the bouzuchi and at the dobro - Zahir production (Calabria)

A first-person account of the true story of Giuseppe "Joe" Zangara, an Italian immigrant who tried to assassinate US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. At 33 years old, on March 20th, 1933, Zangara is executed by electric chair.

may 4, 7pm - casa italiana zerilli-marimo'

may 7, 6pm - the brick

"Riccardo AND Lucia"
By Claudia Lerro, directed by Claudia Lerro, with Ivana Lotito and Pio Stellaccio - Teatrificio 22 (Puglia)

Awards: Salviamo i talenti- Attilio Corsini - 2013/2014 Teatro Vittoria - Roma

Inspired by the private diary of Lerro's grandfather Riccardo, a poet and an anti-fascist activist, this is the true story of a simple man and woman in post-war Southern Italy, that tells of eternal themes of love, absence, belief.

MAy 9, 8pm - casa italiana zerilli-marimo'

May 11, 8pm - Bernie Wohl Center at goddard riverside

"Rock Oedipus"
written and directed by Manolo Muoio, with Manolo Muoio, Luca Pietramala - Teatro Rossosimona (Calabria)

Fragments of traditional ancient drama alternate with rock songs to leave a mark on this unusual Oedipal journey. Aeschylus and Sophocles coexist with rock music to create a journey of emotional fragments, echoes of memories, iconic references.

may 10, 4:30pm - college of staten island

may 12, 8pm - bernie wohl center at goddard riverside

SPECIAL EVENTS:

OPENING NIGHT

A celebration of Italian theater with tributes by international New York-based artists.

may 1, 7pm, Cherry Lane Theatre

"DOn't tell" - Non dirlo. Il Vangelo di Marco
A monologue by Sandro Veronesi, from the homonymous book published by Bompiani. Produced by Teatro Metastasio di Prato in collaboration with Fosforo (Tuscany)

A journey inside the Gospel of Marco, that tries to unveil the most impenetrable of the Gospels. Inspired by the order that Jesus gives the faithful following his every miracle: "Don't tell."

MAY 2, 7pm, Cherry Lane Theater

FREE VERSE MEETS IN SCENA!

Led by Dave Johnson. A cultural exchange between In Scena! Italian artists and emerging writers from probation centers in the South Bronx and Brooklyn and fro a Senior Center for the blinds in Manhattan. In English, Spanish and Italian.

MAY 4, NOON - South Bronx NeON Center

MAY 8, 10AM - VISIONS SENIOR CENTER

MAY 8, 3PM - BROOKLYN PROBATION CENTER

Mario Fratti AWARD CEREMONY AND CLOSING NIGHT

Reading of the winner of the 2017 Mario Fratti Award for emerging Italian playwrights: "The Country of Swollen Faces" by Paolo Bignami. In English.

MAY 15, 6:30PM - Italian Cultural Institute

READINGS - MAY 8, 6 AND 8PM - SOUTH OXFORD SPACES

In English.

THE WOMAN WHO READS

by Renato Gabrielli

THE HEALER

by Michele Santeramo

HOMICIDE HOUSE

by Emanuele Aldrovandi