'Due Partite' Performance by Students Enrolled in Intro to Italian Literature

Valentina Morello

Setting of the Performance

In April, the students enrolled in ITAL 3113 Introduction to Italian Literature performed Cristina Comencini's play Due Partite (2006) in Italian. The event consisted of original music composed by Leah Foster and performed by Matteo Campagnola; a performance of the play's first act by Honey Okuneye, Alessandro Palazzuoli Bevilacqua, Massimo Palmer and Adriana Treadway; and a performance of the second act by Brian Flanagan, Avalon Manica, Jordyn Moore and Sterling West.

In the previous weeks, students engaged in the translation of the play's text from Italian to English, which they made available for the public during the performance. As one of the students wrote, "I learned a lot from this experience. I learned more about the Italian language because there are so many words and colloquial expressions in the play that we don't usually use in class."

The first act is set in Rome in the 1960s. Four women in their mid-thirties meet every Thursday to play cards. They are all married, and three of them, Sofia, Claudia and Gabriella, have daughters. One of them, Beatrice, is expecting her first baby. The four ladies are very close friends and, at their gatherings, talk about their lives, hopes, marriages and families.

The second act is also set in Rome, 30 years later in the 1990s. It starts at Beatrice's funeral. The daughters of the four friends in the first act, each struggling with their own issues, gather in Giulia's apartment and talk about their hopes, dreams and fears. None of the four women is particularly happy with their familiar situations.

Thanks to all the professors of the Italian program for their invaluable assistance, as well as to the Italian Club and the WLDH Studio for sponsoring the refreshments.