Io ti vedo: A theatrical performance interacting with a garden

Last Updated: November 29, 2023

“I see you, I study for a discovery” is a show created in connection with the garden of the Piccolo Teatro Patafisico in Palermo; the first performance is scheduled for Thursday, November 30 at 6 pm with free entrance by reservation. The project included an artistic residency that gave life to creative and research paths involving artists and the local community, culminating in a live performance linked to the green space. This experience has opened up potential opportunities for a new line of theatrical production that blends body language with digital languages and works for the enhancement and redevelopment of green spaces through performing arts and community involvement. The artistic project aims to create a new format of theatrical performance that, starting from the study of the specific green site, mapping resources and strengths, will be able to enhance urban spaces and show new collective uses of green areas in addressing the challenges of sustainable development. A replicable and adaptable format for other different contexts. Throughout the research and creation of the show, the entire community surrounding the small theater of via Gaetano la Loggia was called to participate directly through a questionnaire for adults and children, asking them how to improve the theater garden, how to care for it collectively, and what they imagined that space could become. For the young theater audiences, a focus group was also created to involve them in decisions about the staging. “This project has allowed us to deepen issues that are close to our hearts and that we have been working on for some time,” said Rossella Pizzuto, who wrote the show. “It has allowed us to develop a new piece of the relationship and care path we are taking with our new spaces and the research that underlies our work: creating concrete opportunities and methods of ‘cultural hospitality’ with respect to themes and people.” The Piccolo Teatro Patafisico has recently taken on the challenge of managing the entire pavilion 33 of the former asylum and transforming it into a cultural center for theater production and education with a focus on individual and collective well-being. “I see you” is part of a program of activities including courses, workshops, programming of shows, and cultural production. “I am very excited and happy for this debut,” Pizzuto adds, “which we propose as a study for a show that will see new developments based on the feedback we will collect on Thursday. I am very grateful to my colleagues who have put their great professionalism and heart into this project and to the entire community of the PTP who participated with advice, questionnaires, focus groups, and technical and artistic support.”