For several days the grand terrace of the Neapolitan building Real Albergo dei Poveri reopens to the public and becomes a stage, together with the patio and the auditorium, of a new season of theater, music and civic projects. From 6 to 16 October the events will be free, until all seats are taken. The program officially launches the second edition of the Futuro Quotidiano project, envisioned by artistic director Laura Valente and organized with the help of the City of Naples. At the center are themes that belong to the very history of the Albergo dei Poveri but also speak to the present: hospitality, marginalization, migrations, identity, community.
The reopening of the Real Albergo dei Poveri
The restoration work is not yet finished, but a portion of the Real Albergo dei Poveri is temporarily accessible. And it does so by choosing live performance as a form of reclaiming the spaces.
The terrace will be the heart of the initial appointments of the Naples monument. A monumental place, normally removed from daily city life, which for a few evenings changes function and becomes a stage. Not a simple container: several works have been designed or adapted precisely for the environments of the building. The new cycle fits into the RAP Napoli Millenaria journey and relaunches the Futuro Quotidiano experience, which in the coming months will continue with laboratories and activities also aimed at younger generations. From late October, among other things, the free after-school program “Scuola popolare, nessuno escluso” and paths dedicated to the body and affectivity will begin.
There will also be space for Fotoromanza, Giorgina Pi’s workshop aimed at women between 65 and 90 years old. The participants will work on their own personal stories through images and narration, culminating in the production of a documentary. A project that communicates directly with the memory of the Albergo dei Poveri, a building born to welcome the most fragile and marginalized people of the city.
The events planned
The first unmissable appointment is scheduled for 6 October at 8 pm: on the terrace will be staged Fame by Armando Punzo, a show that draws inspiration from Knut Hamsun’s novel and is adapted specifically for the location.
For Punzo it is also a return to Naples after thirteen years. Born in Cercola, the director has tied a large part of his career to the Compagnia della Fortezza, founded in the Volterra prison in 1988. His theatre has transformed the experience of detention into a space for artistic research, earning numerous recognitions, including six Ubu Awards.
Equally important is the 7 October at 8 pm where the project by Gianni Valentino and VOLTO SOUND E per loro, with Lello Tramma and Michele Signore. It starts from documents found in the Banco di Napoli’s historical archive, and from those papers fourteen short poems, in Italian and Neapolitan, are turned into a suite where voice, violin, mandoloncello, guitar and electronics cross the Mediterranean and bring to the surface stories of imprisonment, forced conversions and erased lives.
On the same date 7 October from 9:15 pm the terrace will also host the concert Eredità by Luciareiello with the voices of the youths from the Nisda Juvenile Institute and Federico di Napoli. The event stems from a rap and Neapolitan song workshop carried on by the association CCO – Crisi Come Opportunità. It will not be an isolated episode: the collaboration with Futuro Quotidiano will continue with new educational and cultural pathways.
The last available date is that of 16 October with an appointment starting at 7 pm. Between the patio and the auditorium unfolds Tiresia: Nata vicino ai fantasmi. Nata tempesta by Giorgina Pi and Bluemotion. A special Naples debut with a unique performance-installation that must be listened to in headphones and entirely built around the poetry of Kae Tempest. It will be 35 minutes of immersive voices, memory and invisible presences.
The available appointments are free, but with a limited number of entries. When seats are exhausted, access is no longer possible.
