I was having a coffee the other day with our wonderful resident designer of FITC at my local bar - where my husband is the barrista (we’ll get to that a bit later) - and a few things came to mind. First…. I really like Trui. She’s from Holland, she’s fun and I respect her immensely. We laugh a lot and make beautiful theatre art together…. too bad she’s married. And a woman….
But the conversation was something I wanted to share with you… the “gist” of the conversation I should say. Basically how lucky I am. …. here in Florence I can do anything I want. Well, not anything as making a living is surely the most difficult of things (but I’ll figure it out somehow). But I can be whoever I want. And not because people here don’t know me and I can walk the cobblestones of the city (or the asphalt they put down on my street!!!!….. see photo of destruction of via Ghibellina) in total annonymity to my past. But because…. here in Florence ….. for whatever reason…. I have a thought….. and with much applied effort, focus and assistance (usually from Aaron but not exclusively) it generally occurs. Why is that?
On Sunday the 11th of February FITC hosted an event that was merely a thought a year and a half ago. Just like all aspects of FITC that have occured of course. Or like all aspects of life. But somehow, here, there is more of a sense of… sure I can do that! I can go to a place everyone tells me is impossible and create the vision I see. So I found myself sitting in the office of the Rabbi of the Jewish Community of Florence and having a nice discussion for an hour about this idea I had for FITC to develop a program of education, creativity and community involvement for the EU’s commemoration of the Holocaust. And…. that’s exactly what we did.
The problem with Aaron and I …… is that we have this horrible tendency to dream big and then actually go and pursue the dream. This is only a problem because usually it results in him and I not getting much sleep, spending lots of our own money and having little fights that last thirty minutes we don’t have the time to waste which results in learning how to create an even stronger partnership while we are getting people to donate the printing and the Pergola Theater to loan us “practicabali” (platforms) for the set, and managing conversations with the Synagogue in scheduling and defining the event and meeting with Mirella, the 87 year old amazing Florentine woman who taught Art History at Hunter College for 40 years and now translated the lines into Italian we felt necessary to make the script understandable in bi-lingual form, and, of course, co-ordinating times and needs of our cast of 35 people from the community who, for some reason, trust us to take them on this journey.
And that’s exactly what we did! (see photo). It was an amazing event for so many reasons. Italians, expatriates, students from other countries, adults, children all on stage sharing a story that was so moving and written by students of my dear friend Niki in New Jersey. For me, as the director, it was like playing a human chess game. Apparently, I was also described as a “field marshall.” I certainly did need to rally the troups a great deal. I gave direction in English and Italian, which was pretty darn incredible, and I met - yet again - some truly interesting people. When the day of the event finally came, the sala (room) was filled with standing audience members and the actors rose to a challenge which was beyond what many of them had ever done before (many had never acted!). At the end of the day, after the performance, the beautiful reception and the discussion on the importance of teaching the Holocaust today Aaron and I - exhausted as is the FITC way - looked at each other and realized we had manifested a thought into something living. And that…. is what theatre….. can do.
But it is also what Florence can do. It is hard sometimes to understand the real contrasts that living in Florence makes you see and experience each day. On one hand it is a small town. On another a city of great importance. Hundreds of years ago it was a symbol of creative thinking and innovative action. At this point in time it is a memory of that symbol which is celebrated and studied in the musei (museums) and universities and walking tours and which can even be found in the foods of Tuscany - Ribolitta for example (peasant stew… yum!) and constantly on the stages. But the energy is still here for creative innovative action….. however how do you bring something contemporary to a place that resists it so strongly? That wants and needs to protect itself so it can remain safely within its identity and history and understand what it means to be Florence and Florentine? It’s a hard question…… and I think about it a lot lately as Aaron and I slowly but surely position FITC to be a part of the newer Florence…… is it the right thing to do? Or do we work against what Florence should be….. only a distant memory of what is great within man when a society exists that supports thought, creation and action?
I think about this as we - yet again - search desperately to find a location to produce “Agnes of God” in mid-April. And I think about this as I sit in our meetings for the first university student study-abroad project we are overseeing - FITC’s Creative Campus will be doing a Story Hour at the Paperback Exchange Bookstore twice a month for the children. These students are only here for six months and they want to leave something positive behind them….. should they?
I thought about asking my husband his thoughts on all this. The barrista at the bar Michelangiolo apparently told Trui that I can do what I like there (such as sit at a table for three hours without buying anything other than a cappucino) because I am “like his wife.” He’s Florentine and would probably have a fair and thoughtful answer for me. Or maybe not. Maybe he wouldn’t have much of an answer. Trui tells me he can’t stop staring at me even when my back is to him. And he does get a little …. inarticulate …. when I come into the bar. And - I know - that these little moments are all about life in Florence as well. That connection between a man and a woman over the purchase of a cappuccino that reminds you that you are in Italy not the Starbucks on 5th Avenue in New York.
And, as I reread this… and think about my experience of Florence and my sharing of the journey at - almost now 43 years of age - into a new life here… it’s not the Florence most people want to hear about. It’s not the reason they vote it one of the “top ten cities to visit” every year. They want to hear that the food is good, the Italians passionate and the panorama “splendida”….. and all of this is true…. some of the time. But along with the good food is the highly polluted air in the city and one of the “passions” of the Italians went so far that for quite awhile all the stadiums were closed here due to a death of a fan at a calcio (soccer) match…. and my friend, Jacob, couldn’t help but notice the grafitti that went along with the gorgeous aspects of this city. So maybe being a part of the “real” Florence is the right thing to do. Involving with it, embracing it, and - hopefully - enhancing it.
