La ferocia

«We narrate upside down worlds in order to be able to understand ours, we stimulate the surreal so as not to justify the present». This is how Apulian company Vico Quarto Mazzini, founded by Michele Altamura and Gabriele Paolocà, presents itself and engages with an investigative process in which theatre, dramaturgy, radio, video and installation all come together. Having already presented the cutting edge Vieni Su Marte at the REF in 2018, the company returns to the festival to stage one of the most acclaimed novels of recent years: La Ferocia by Nicola La Gioia (Strega Prize 2015). In the rich suburbs of Bari, the death of Clara Salvemini- daughter of an affluent real estate developer- sheds light on the lack of affection and power relations within the good bourgeoisie. Through the gaze of Michele, Clara’s half-brother, and his reconstruction of his sister’s life and her death, emerges a portrait of the contradictions and violence of Southern Italy. It is his story that encompasses the story of a family, of a city, of the sins of the fathers that lurk in the weaknesses of the children and of the ferocity of power and money that stains our times. Feeding on the noir and gothic atmospheres of the novel, the disruptive and sharp aesthetic of Altamura and Paolocà animate a show which, at times equally lucid and ironic, paints a portrait of our country.