02 Jul Pergine: Manual’s last stop
The 43º Pergine Festival kicks off on July 6 with the play A Manual on Work and Happiness, starring Italian actress Clara Setti and a group of 17 citizens from Pergine and Trento regions. The play is the outcome of a 3-week artistic residency with Portuguese company mala voadora.
Last year, the Pergine Festival hosted the International Seminar on Work and Happiness, an event which included the conference Happiness Calling and a series of workshops and lazyshops. Academics, artists and audiences were encouraged to collectively reflect upon the links between work, leisure and happiness, questioning the status quo and imagining the shape of work in a technological future.
It was based on the contributions provided during the International Seminar that Jorge Andrade and José Capela, from mala voadora, and Catalan writer Pablo Gisbert then attended a Writing Residency at Arboreto – Teatro di Mora/Mondaino and prepared what would soon become the text of the play.
A Manual on Work and Happiness opened in Patras (Greece), in March 2018. It was subsequently presented in two Portuguese cities, Montijo and Alcobaça, in April and May.
Each one of these performances was preceded by an artistic residency with mala voadora, during which local citizens took part in the creative process and ultimately went on stage as performers.
Therefore, Pergine is the last stop of a “touring manual”. This time, the artistic residency is being followed by two filmmakers, Angel Esteban and Elena Goatelli, who will direct a documentary about the creative process. The documentary is produced by Roberto Cavellini, from Italy’s production outfit Altrove Films.
Click here to watch the Pergine making-of, which includes interviews with Jorge Andrade (director, mala voadora), Carla Esperanza Tommasini (Pergine Festival) and actress Clara Setti.