Fire images

 

a little child plays in a green meadow

she treads on a mine

she travels backward in her own memories and oniric suggestions, in a mixture of hallucinations and reality

framed by the narration of a tale.

This project sails from an apparently calm dock as ‘The Little Match-Seller' of Hans Christian Andersen. Even Andersen warned that this was a 'tale for adults', hiding some snares inside. ‘Immagini a fuoco' in italian means at the same time burned images , pictures focused with a camera , and images aimed with a weapon . The letteral translation is ‘Fire images' but we like also the multiple meanings of ‘Laying images' thinking at the verb to lay: to lay bare, to lay a charge, to lay one's bones, to lay to rest, to lay out a corpse…

‘Immagini a fuoco' is a kind of play where images, music, sound and physical acting has a special relevance and we think it's simple to understand even if the public does not understand our language, also considering that the plot is a worldwide famous tale.

As usual in our theater, we play together two different stories with a theme in common, creating by their opposition, new and unespected meanings.

The spark that light our performance is a flame.

When the hopeless, hungry and chilled little girl turns on a match, at the same time the red shine of a landmine springs: the hopeful visions of the little match-seller melt with the hallucinations of a sad child treading on a mine.

The savory smell of roast goose and the sharp smell of a burned body; the Christmas tree lights that looked to her like the stars in the sky and the hallucination about amissing limb; the memory of the death of the grandmother and the funeral of the unfortunate girl. These are the images that we burn together mixing the bitter tale and the history of million children around the world.

 

Italiano

 

 

‘How the fire burned! … Someone is dying – thought the little girl'

There are two actors on the scene, one plays the role of the Little Girl who travels in a flashback from the grave, through her funeral until the moment of her death. The other actor is the Father, who is an illegal street seller of matches, lighter and lottery tickets, but the only good he can sell at the end, is just bombs, weapons and landmines.

By a twist of fate, the Father will mine the meadow where his daughter will tread the lethal weapon in the final scene, played in slow-motion, like a frozen frame of mourning.

The scenography is essential: few curtains on the scene become fields and carpets, weapons, covers and the funeral shroud.