Les jours de mon abandon / I giorni dell’abbandono

An abandoned wife, an internal mourning to be processed and experienced in full, an oppressed body to be destroyed and then rebuilt, more resistant. Gaia Saitta stages the novel by Elena Ferrante, the story of a woman capable of being reborn, finally free, scandalous and strong.

Italy at the end of the Nineties. The forty-year-old Olga lives a middle-class life, a devoted wife and loving mother to a young boy and a little girl. In the novel by Ferrante, she follows her husband, an engineer, from Naples to Turin. In the theatrical edition by Gaia Saitta, she travels even further north, to Brussels.
Without warning, the man she has always been devoted to abandons her for a woman half her age. Olga is plunged into a state of ferocious rage, becoming vulgar, violent and grotesque; she stops caring for her children, her dog and herself. Deep-set fears return to the surface, leading her to the precipice, until the moment in which the light returns: with new-found self-awareness, Olga is ready to write a new chapter in her life.
«The first time I read the novel by Elena Ferrante, it took my breath away – explains Gaia Saitta, born in 1978, who was brought up in Italy and has now been living and working for many years in Belgium, where she is associated artist at the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles –. The Italy that I present here is that of my mother, where – apparently – there is only one “model” life. Ferrante shows us another possible type of woman, scandalous and strong, which I relate to and that moves me profoundly, one that gives me the will and the strength to be the person I am. This is the story that I want to tell.»

Recommended for audiences aged 15 and over
A show in French and Italian with surtitles in Italian and English

Duration: 105’ without intermission

Cities

Italy at the end of the Nineties. The forty-year-old Olga lives a middle-class life, a devoted wife and loving mother to a young boy and a little girl. In the novel by Ferrante, she follows her husband, an engineer, from Naples to Turin. In the theatrical edition by Gaia Saitta, she travels even further north, to Brussels.
Without warning, the man she has always been devoted to abandons her for a woman half her age. Olga is plunged into a state of ferocious rage, becoming vulgar, violent and grotesque; she stops caring for her children, her dog and herself. Deep-set fears return to the surface, leading her to the precipice, until the moment in which the light returns: with new-found self-awareness, Olga is ready to write a new chapter in her life.
«The first time I read the novel by Elena Ferrante, it took my breath away – explains Gaia Saitta, born in 1978, who was brought up in Italy and has now been living and working for many years in Belgium, where she is associated artist at the Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles –. The Italy that I present here is that of my mother, where – apparently – there is only one “model” life. Ferrante shows us another possible type of woman, scandalous and strong, which I relate to and that moves me profoundly, one that gives me the will and the strength to be the person I am. This is the story that I want to tell.»

Recommended for audiences aged 15 and over
A show in French and Italian with surtitles in Italian and English

Duration: 105’ without intermission

Credits

Les jours de mon abandon / I giorni dell’abbandono
inspired by I giorni dell’abbandono by Elena Ferrante © 2002 Edizioni E/O
created, adapted and directed by Gaia Saitta
artistic collaboration Sarah Cuny, Mathieu Volpe, Jayson Batut
text and dramaturgy Gaia Saitta, Mathieu Volpe
director’s assistant Sarah Cuny
sets Paola Villani
costumes Frédérick Denis
original music Ezequiel Menalled
lighting Amélie Géhin
with Jayson Batut, Flavie Dachy / Mathilde Karam, Gaia Saitta, Vitesse (the dog)
general management Giuliana Rienzi
sound director Pawel Wnuczynski
lighting director Corentin Christiaens
video created and directed by Stefano Serra
video assistant Arthur Demaret
stage director Thomas Linthoudt
set mechanics Chris Vanneste
children’s coach Lola Chuniaud
canine educator (training carried out with respect for animals) Casting Tails, Tim Van Brussel
apprentices Lou-Ann Bererd (sets), Tania Chirino (directing), Paul Canfori (directing)
sets and costumes made by Ateliers du Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles
a play by Gaia Saitta / If Human
a Théâtre National Wallonie-Bruxelles production
co-produced by Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Piccolo Teatro di Milano – Teatro d’Europa, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del FVG, TNC-Teatre Nacional de Catalunya Barcelone, Théâtre de Namur, Le Manège Maubeuge, La Coop asbl, Shelter Prod
with the support of BAMP – Brussels Art Melting Pot asbl, Taxshelter.be, ING et du Taxshelter du gouvernement fédéral belge

Recommended for audiences aged 15 and over
A show in French and Italian with surtitles in Italian and English