The Piccolo plays host to a mini-retrospective dedicated to Mitipretese, the group created in 2006 by Manuela Mandracchia, Alvia Reale, Sandra Toffolatti and Mariángeles Torres, creating a place in which dramaturgy, directing, scenography and actor directing could be the result of a collective work which, together with Mauro De Santis, has led to the creation of a number of plays, including Roma ore 11 from 2006, Troiane/Frammenti di tragedia from 2013 and Festa di famiglia from 2009, which will all be staged at the Teatro Studio Melato.
 

Two hundred young women turned up for a job interview for a single secretarial position which the announcement suggested was badly paid. Under their weight, the stairway where they were all waiting collapsed and 77 women were injured, some seriously, others less so. One of them died.
The story told in Roma ore 11, a play staged by Manuela Mandracchia, Alvia Reale, Sandra Toffolatti, Mariángeles Torres in 2006 and the first appointment in this mini-review dedicated to Mitipretese, seems to be one of many contemporary stories on “work-related accidents”.
The play is based on the book by Elio Petri, the result of investigations carried out by the then-young journalist in 1951 on behalf of the director Giuseppe De Santis, who wanted to examine the story in order to turn it into a film. Petri conducted his investigation in great detail, woman by woman, retracing their stories, their families, the environments, exploring their dreams and expectations, bringing together ideas on justice and reconstructing the image of that world. More than an investigation, it is an exposé of misery, desperation, of the oppression - including sexual - suffered by the women, an aspect which led to the film being boycotted and censured.
Although it was not written for the theatre, Petri wrote such vivid and tangible characters that they were ready to be performed.
The four actresses “multiply” to fill the various roles - young women from the suburbs, the pious, doorkeepers and tailors -, alternating dialects and at times breaking into song. These are the thousand faces making up a daily existence of ordinary survival.
A play which is entertaining and moving, but which is also a reflection on the world of women and the past and present search for a social and professional role in a world which is still male dominated.