229. Theatre Means Togetherness
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| The inauguration of the theatre began with the unveiling of a fresco on the external wall by the local artist Gabriele Catterin who depicted a scene from “La Commedia dell Arte” |
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I wanted to take an aerial view of the proceedings but I simply was not tall enough,so I spied a little angel without wings standing on top of a wall who obliged. |
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| This is the little angel without wings who took the picture above and whose mum said I could post her picture. |
But artists are not like that, the theatre is not like that. Artists are givers. You can almost smell, touch and feel the sense of freedom and togetherness they emanate. Artists show an incomparable openness to share their gifts with all and sundry- writers are prepared to write for nothing, artists will illustrate your streets for nothing, musicians will play their tune, sing their song, acrobats, clowns, actors... all have a different conception of sharing than the rest of those tight fisted, don’t approach me attitude of business organizers and intellectuals.
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Our local priest blesses the theatre. |
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| The President of our Pro-loco, Stefano Coan, and the Theatre Director Danny Masutti (right) having some problem in cutting the ribbon. |
And yet the rest of society, if not despise, don’t particularly care to associate with these kind of people, let alone sponsor them, contribute to their upkeep so that they may thrive- after all of what use is art? It can’t spin, it cannot toil, it cannot produce an object that can be of use to anyone. In effect, we can live without paintings, without images, we can live without sculptures, music, songs, stories, writing, books... the cavemen did. Rather, correction, they too left signs on the walls, they too wanted to tell their story to other men, they too wanted to communicate.
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People gathering into the theatre for the inaugural speeches. |
Indeed we can all live without art. We can all live in our little cut off corner of the world where only people with our own exact same characteristics are permitted to our presence. We can all live in our particular slot of society, freezing our feelings, making sure we do not touch others as if they had the feared swine flu, live in our solitary, miserable, empty world of self-righteousness and non-communication.
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| Politicians and authorities taking up the front row. |
Is that why God planted a few artists amongst us, a few painters, writers, musicians, dancers and actors... To save the rest of mankind from their otherwise numb world? Or in effect, is there not an artist inside each one of us?
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| The volunteers, thanks to them if this theatre came into being. |
Actors are very special people because where ever they are they are never alone. They study their art to make it so that they attract others to them and incite people with a feeling of togetherness. This bonding of humanity is something the cinema or TV cannot give... they cannot draw living people to other living people and enable to create togetherness; this drawing together of people and making them share in their togetherness is the prerogative of the theatre.
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Outside a buffet awaited us with local cheeses, bread, meats and cakes. |
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And of course, the Veneto is renown for its wine. |
After all, the greatest Dramatist of all times, Shakespeare, was well aware of this, that is why he has left us the treasures, that he has, for the benefit of mankind, because he was a theatre man, he had this love of sharing of the whole of himself with the rest of mankind, and he left this world without real payment for his work... but he continued to produce his work all the same because an artist is not able not to do that. For him, as with any artist, it is not a question of generosity, it is a calling, a vocation, a mission. That is what religious people and artists have in common, a drawing of people towards one another through the sublime.
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| A view of the eating and drinking arrangements just outside the theatre |
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| Some volunteers celebrating. |
Our village, Sarmede, is the only village in the whole region, which has the a theatre dedicated to children. It came into being through the efforts of ordinary people who created an association called Pro-Loco and the President at the time, about 20 years ago, Dany Massutti set up, again with ordinary village volunteers “Le fiere del Teatro” per l’infanza (Theatre Fayre for children) which were held during the winter months beneath a huge tent.
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| Scenes from the Freak Clown, a Milanese company |
But it was also thanks to our local politicians from the Province of Treviso, and the Veneto Region that they eventually managed to get enough contributions to set the foundations. The theatre is still heavily under debt but our volunteers being completely “reckless” went ahead and got these posh seats which replaced the benches the children sat on last year.
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| The Public from the "gods" |
There are six thousand children and seven hundred teachers who visit this theatre every year. Like I said before, we can all live without art, without theatres, but that way we are deprived of experiencing right from the start, that life is not a miserable, empty world bereft of affinity solidarity, relationships and human togetherness - I think there would be quite a bit less strife in the world and much more peace if people knew what togetherness means.
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| With Francesco- a member of the public |
The world has always been attracted to the theatre, except perhaps nowadays, because we no longer consider it a valid form of entertainment... But while theatre, can be, but is not just entertainment, today we consider it to be just so, and compare it to discos and what have you, which just shows how lacking in depth we humans have become. Theatre is where we see our lives unfold on the stage. As Shakespeare says, we are all actors. The arts and theatre come under the term we call culture which is nowadays considered to be, erroneously, a prerogative of the upper-class.
Culture comes from the simple world, cultivate and we know it is the farmer who cultivates grapes, apples, lettuce, cabbages, potatoes and so on for our bodies. The arts and theatre cultivate food for the mind, heart, spirit, and enkindles a love of togetherness, a love, not wariness and hatred for humanity. The word “actor” comes from the word action and the persona (character) is the mask that we wear when we act out our daily life.... Just a few notes so you know why the theatre came into being in the first place anyway. But let me leave you with the words of Shakespeare himself from “As You Like It” when he talks of the seven stage of a man’s life:
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| And this is what the public thought |
"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,”
— Jaques (Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-166)
Freak Clown “Les Sommelier
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