WINNER YOUNG&KIDS AWARD 2022 FIT FESTIVAL LUGANO
HONORABLE MENTION SCENARIO CHILDHOOD AWARD 2020
WINNER ALTE MARCHE CREATIVE GRANT 2021

From Syria: is this a Child? tells the story of Giorgia, a fourteen-year-old Italian girl, and Abdo, a young Syrian refugee. Giorgia lives a daily life in Europe during a time of peace but is marked by a family war. Abdo, on the other hand, lived for eleven years under bombs and missiles in Syria. The plot unfolds through an intense friendship between the two protagonists, who share their experiences through electronic devices, exposing their biography in real-time.

Giorgia had a happy childhood interrupted by her parents’ divorce, while Abdo never had a childhood due to the war that took everything from him. The show explores the search for balance between the personal stories of the protagonists and the historical era, using technology to magnify the present and show the faces of war. The audience is invited to gently enter the private and painful world of the characters, exposing privileged and painful aspects of their lives through multimedia dialogue between theater, documentary, and cinema.

While the performance narrates a specific war, it tackles the theme of the impact of wars on people, posing the question to everyone: what kind of adult do you want to become? We still have time to answer.

Why come and see it ➜  Because Miriam and Nicola’s perspective on the world resonates in us like a shock and a caress combined. Because their way of telling reality pierces the surface and becomes personal, without giving up being political. Technology becomes a language to give voice and body to the narrative. Here, a boy and a girl speak. They talk about the future, desires, promises, change, dreams. To do so, they confide in each other: they delve into their past. Their sufferings, abandonments. The war in Syria. Because the show is an ideal and concrete bridge between Pergine Festival 2023 and Pergine Festival 2024.

CREDITS

Concept and direction Nicola di Chio and Miriam Selima Fieno 
On stage Abdo Al Naseef Alnoeme and Giorgia Possekel 
Dramaturgy Miriam Selima Fieno
Virtual set design and light design Maria Elena Fusacchia 
Videomaking Nicola Di Chio, Miriam Selima Fieno, Abdo Al Naseef Alnoeme, and Giorgia Possekel
Archive video Hazem Alhamwy 
Miniature production Ilenia Lella Fieno 
Sound space Antonello Ruzzini 
Production Tieffe Teatro Menotti
With the support of CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del FVG/Dialoghi – Residenze delle Arti Performative a Villa Manin, Qui e Ora Residenza Teatrale, Teatro Giovani Teatro Pirata / AMAT, L’ Arboreto Teatro Dimora di Mondaino and Zona KIn collaboration with Mishwar Ong