In the border city of Ventimiglia, migrants and Italians come together for the steampunk musical "Scapigliati" that combines different periods in the name of integration.
Baudelaire and a bohemian atmosphere come together in a theatrical performance featuring Italians and migrants that demonstrates that integration is possible. "Scapigliati" goes on show in Ventimiglia on the French-Italian border from July 18-20, with sponsorship from the local council and department of culture and support from Caritas Intemelia.
A musical to forget the drama of migration
In Ventimiglia, "migrants cannot cross the border and some die tragically in their attempts to do so," creator and director Alessandro Arcodia told ANSA. With the support of activists and volunteers "these young people get involved in various activities, such as collective allotments, artistic projects, sport. We already had an amateur theatre company and decided to involve them too," he continued.
The actors are Mamadou, Ibrahim, Fadil and Usman, four youngsters aged 16-20 from Guinea, Mali, Ghana and Cameroon and now asylum seekers in Italy. "They have had fun doing this project," said Arcodia. Some of them have tragic life stories: a two-year journey to reach Europe, no contact with their loved ones, the death of their whole family.
"To smile during a scene, use their creativity, follow the music and move about can be a way for them to put their difficult situation to one side and forget, for a moment, their dramatic experiences."
Theatre for unity
"We wanted to do something of social value and so we decided to base the work on "Hair," which is a musical that talks about the war in Vietnam," Arcodia explained. Scapigliati, on the other hand, is set at the end of the 19th century "in a dark, steampunk atmosphere."
In Italy, the "scapigliati" were members of an artistic movement that developed from the 1860s and was similar to the Bohemian movement in France. In the Ventimiglia show, migrants, Italian university and high school students and women teachers play the roles of painters, ballerinas, drinkers and revolutionaries in the deconsecrated church of San Francesco.
The production was a result of a theatre workshop that started last November and allows each person to use their own skills and talents.
"It has been a way of bringing together young contemporaries from different countries who would not otherwise have had the opportunity to meet one another. Today this is of fundamental importance," Arcodia concluded.