THE PROJECT
Target groups: female victims of violence

“In these difficult times, theatre – and the empathy it can help build – is like oxygen,” says Susana C. Gaspar. The project uses documentary and social theatre as a vehicle to stimulate critical thinking and create spaces for debate. Central to this is the desire to turn the stage into a place for open and accessible dialogue to expose truths and challenge dominant narratives. With fragile target groups, with whom the director has been working for over ten years, the aim will be to make theatre the common language and a significant agent of personal growth to bring to light realities that are often overlooked or ignored by power.

OPEN REHEARSAL: 1st DECEMBER 2023 h 12:00 am
LUDOTECA DEL COMPLESSO DELLA SANTISSIMA ANNUNZIATA, NAPOLI
DIRECTOR SUSANA C. GASPAR E MARINA RIPPA
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE EMBASSY OF PORTUGAL IN ROME AND CAMÕES I.P.

IN COLLABORATION WITH ASL NAPOLI 1

SUSANA C. GASPAR
Portugal 
Susana C. Gaspar is an actress and director involved in the making of plays based on the themes of human rights, gender studies, and arts as a tool for social change. Since 2011, she has been working in the documentary and community theatre field, after obtaining a first degree in Cultural Sciences – Communication and Culture from the University of Lisbon and a Master’s degree in Artistic Education – Theatre from Lisbon Polytechnic. Now, she is a Professor at Lisbon Superior School of Education, co-artistic director of Chão de Oliva / Sintra Theatre Company, and a Human Rights activist.

MARINA RIPPA
Napoli
Marina Rippa works with non-verbal languages, body dramaturgy, actor training and theatre pedagogy. She developed her interest in movement as an artistic expression in 1979 and approached the theatre-making world focusing on movement work. Specialised in psychokinetic (Le Boulch) and the Feldenkrais Method, she supervised training and movement studies for various performances and currently leads seminars, training workshops, and open movement classes. In 1992 she founded the theatre research group ‘Libera mente’, and in 2012 the ‘F.pl. femminile plurale’ association. For years, she has been investigating the female universe, undertaking theatre projects with women of all ages.

THE CONTEXT
F.Pl. Femminile Plurale
F.Pl. Femminile Plurale is a cultural association based in Naples, which deals with theatre education, pedagogy, theatre production, and events organisation, with a network of formal and informal target groups. She curates ‘La scena delle donne – percorsi teatrali con le donne a Forcella”, a project acrive in that area since 2007 and open to women from different vulnerable contexts. For this project, F.Pl. Femminile Plurale has collaborated with many local associations dealing with gender-based violence and vulnerable people, such as Le Kassandre and IF (imparare e fare), the cooperatives Less and Dedalus. The association took part in various national festivals and collaborated with many local bodies and institutions.