IZZERA (goes to Merica)

Izzera is a girl who, at the end of the ’20s of the last century, leaves a small village in Garfagnana in Lucchesia to reach her boyfriend who emigrated to San Francisco. It emerges a fresco of the so-called “Merica”, perceived as too big, and of the uprooting condition of the Italians, forced to shovel and pickaxe.

A linguistic disorientation as well: like everyone else, Izzera, in fact, will gradually speak “italiese”, that quirky mix of Italian and English typical of first generation immigrants: a clumsy yet extremely poetic mix, which tells of the disorientation and the desperate attempt to integrate into a reality so different from the original one by those destined to inhabit a halfway land, that of those who are not yet and at the same time are no longer. Izzera is a seamstress: on stage she is accompanied by her work tools that punctuate the story by conveying memories. With her body, her voice, and her “deceitful” words, Izzera crosses an era and an ocean, giving us a glimpse of history that sheds light on our present.

“Eppi is when you are happy. And who knows if my beautiful Antonio was really happy when he said he really liked America very much.”

Preziosa Salatino – Actress, author, director, and social theater operator. In 2006 she founded Teatro Atlante in Palermo with Emilio Ajovalasit, which she still directs, and thanks to which she has produced dozens of shows. Particularly interested in themes of civil commitment, she has written and performed texts about the mafia, immigration, and mental health. Since 2021 she has been directing the festival of performative poetry P/Atto-Poesia in Azione with Giuseppe di Vincenzo.

Michele Cecchini – born in Lucca in 1972, has been living in Livorno for years where he teaches literary subjects in a secondary school. For Bollati Boringhieri he has published the novels: “Un morso all’improvviso” (2023), “E questo è niente” (2021), “Il cielo per ultimo” (2019). Previously for Edizioni Erasmo di Livorno, “Dall’aprile a shantih” (2010) and “Per il bene che ti voglio” (2015).

He also wrote the afterword to “Aprire il fuoco” by Luciano Bianciardi (Minimum Fax). He collaborated in writing the lyrics for the album “Anime storte” by Bobo Rondelli. He publishes stories for the magazines “Le parole e le cose” and “Il primo amore”.