Capinera, First performance Playing Memories
“Capinera”, the final performance of the first artistic residency of Playing Memories, will take place in Milan on Monday, December 16, 2024, at 4:00 PM at the cultural center Base Milano. The Playing Memories project is finally coming to life: after weeks of intense work, experimentation, and dialogue between artistic languages, the participants are ready to present the result of their journey to the public. Capinera will be an artistic exploration inspired by Giovanni Verga’s novel Storia di una capinera, incorporating elements of dance, theater, music, and visual arts.
The artistic residency, held over two weeks at the Saint Louis headquarters in Milan (Viale Bodio 37), served as a dynamic creative laboratory, bringing together talents from various artistic disciplines to create a collective piece. This fusion of different perspectives has resulted in a work that blends tradition with innovation, technique with improvisation. This event is not just a performance but also a celebration of collaboration and the transformative power of art. The theatrical project takes inspiration from Verga’s epistolary novel, reinterpreting and subverting it for a contemporary audience.
However, the main character is not Maria—the 19-year-old girl forced into a convent in Catania at the age of seven and destined to become a cloistered nun—but Capinera, Maria’s alter ego. Capinera is the stage name of a woman, an artist, and a singer-songwriter who has taken refuge in a shelter for survivors of domestic violence. During therapy sessions, she revisits four pivotal events in her life. Through this process, she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and liberation from guilt by expressing herself through art. The story begins at a point where almost everything has already happened.
The singer-songwriter’s memories are presented as flashbacks, woven together by imagery, music, dance, and sound. The project, conceived by Beatrice Goracci—a third-year student of the Pop-Rock Singing program at Saint Louis—centers on a female protagonist who does not passively endure (like Maria) but, with the help of her mentor, actively reclaims herself (as Capinera), ultimately achieving catharsis and self-empowerment through the power of art. Maria is forced into seclusion by her family. She falls in love with Nino. And she dies of a broken heart. Capinera is forced by her husband to abandon her passion for music, to stop seeing friends, to stay at home, to not make phone calls. Yet she still loves him. And she almost dies. Almost…
At the heart of this project lies the idea that through art, Capinera acknowledges her trauma (physical and psychological abuse, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy), embraces it, and confronts it—eventually sensing the stirrings of a new life.
The Capinera performance will premiere at the cultural center Base Milano (Via Ambrogio Bergognone da Fossano, 34) on December 16 at 4:00 PM, featuring:
PERFORMER:Beatrice Goracci vocals and creator Maria Vittoria Benigni electric bass Sabrina La Macchia director Penelope Massa actress Rachele Amore piano/keyboards/vocals Stefano Corradini drums Michele Gualano sound designer Francesco Freschet guitars Chiara Scaglianti piano/keyboards/vocals Kart Laidmale visual artist Eva Lotta Kliimask choreographer Reti Ann Niimann choreographer Aoi Fujiwara dancer Noa Hirasawa dancer Helena Frias Ollero dancer Carolina Cecilia Marchi dancer
