click on the playbill to enlarge.In preparation for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Velletri Prison’s Compagnia Il Ponte Magico (The Magic Bridge Company), in collaboration with the FSP Center for Culture and Communications, will perform the play “Am I Not Free?” in the Queen of Apostles Sanctuary, Rome, on 18 January.
After about 2 years of theater training within the prison prescints, the Company, thanks to the understanding and collaboration of prison director Dr. Giuseppe Makovec and the Department for Prisoner Supervision, is now ready to stage public performances that show how important and even essential the theater can be in helping prisoners reinsert themselves in society.
Antonio Lauritano, the director of the Company and author of the script, says that the purpose of his play is not to present a historical account of the life of St. Paul but rather to establish a dialogue between the Apostle and people today that brings to the fore the doubts, questions, desperations and uncertainties of every human being and the compelling answers offered by this great evangelizer, revealing the timeliness of his words for contemporary individuals in their concrete situations.
Besides the special meaning of a play of this type performed by prisoners, it is interesting to underscore another aspect of the initiative, namely, the collaboration between the FSPs and the national detension system to stage this performance. In fact, the costumes used in the play were all created by prisoners in the Latina zone, a first step toward expanding participation in this artistic endeavor and improving it by creating a “joint venture” between the prisons of this region and the FSP Center for Culture and Communications. Besides the play’s cast and technical production staff (all prisoners), the performance has been enriched by the contribution of many excellent musicians such as Maurizio Vatania, Federico Carra, Ilaria Innocenti, Terry Gisi, and the help of Rita Gisi, Silvia Venti, Rocco Duca and Alessandro Morbidelli.
After about 2 years of theater training within the prison prescints, the Company, thanks to the understanding and collaboration of prison director Dr. Giuseppe Makovec and the Department for Prisoner Supervision, is now ready to stage public performances that show how important and even essential the theater can be in helping prisoners reinsert themselves in society.
Antonio Lauritano, the director of the Company and author of the script, says that the purpose of his play is not to present a historical account of the life of St. Paul but rather to establish a dialogue between the Apostle and people today that brings to the fore the doubts, questions, desperations and uncertainties of every human being and the compelling answers offered by this great evangelizer, revealing the timeliness of his words for contemporary individuals in their concrete situations.
Besides the special meaning of a play of this type performed by prisoners, it is interesting to underscore another aspect of the initiative, namely, the collaboration between the FSPs and the national detension system to stage this performance. In fact, the costumes used in the play were all created by prisoners in the Latina zone, a first step toward expanding participation in this artistic endeavor and improving it by creating a “joint venture” between the prisons of this region and the FSP Center for Culture and Communications. Besides the play’s cast and technical production staff (all prisoners), the performance has been enriched by the contribution of many excellent musicians such as Maurizio Vatania, Federico Carra, Ilaria Innocenti, Terry Gisi, and the help of Rita Gisi, Silvia Venti, Rocco Duca and Alessandro Morbidelli.
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