Figli

Nuovo Teatro diretta da Marco Balsamo

presents

FIGLI    

by MATTIA TORRE

adapted and directed byFAUSTO PARAVIDINO

withEDOARDO PESCE SILVIA D’AMICO
CARLO DE RUGGIERI – CRISTINA PELLEGRINO

«I was born in '72, I vote for the left, and my life as a voter has always been tormented and unhappy. This misfortune is balanced by a very lucky life: I have a wonderful job, a wonderful family and friends, a good character. I've had two children, written books, planted trees, and if I died tomorrow no one could say it was a wasted life.» — Mattia Torre

There's a couple who are doing well: they love each other, they go to the cinema, they have friends, they make pizza, have aperitifs, go on holiday and even go to the theatre. Since they are doing so well, they grow up and have a little girl. Their life changes almost completely, but they wouldn't go back: before they were happy as two, now they are happy as three – even happier. Then joy, life, destiny… they have another child. And everything starts to fall apart. With the second child, what happened to couples last century when they had ten of them happens to them: the mother becomes a cow, the father a plough ox. Beasts of burden. The welfare system is what it is; Italy – as we know – is the hardest place in Europe in that respect, and Rome is the hardest place in Italy. We'd need more grandparents, more money, more nurseries, more of everything… but instead it's just the two of us giving it our all, with a little girl who is giving it her all too, and a brand-new baby who came into the world dressed as a problem. But can he really be the problem? Sometimes, maybe. But not in our case. And our heroes will have to find the courage to get to the bottom of the problem if they want to solve it (and they do), and to become a little more grown-up than they thought they already were.

“Figli” is a film by Mattia Torre from a few years ago, which now becomes a comedy by Mattia Torre and Fausto Paravidino. I'm Fausto, and I tried to help Mattia adapt his comedy for the stage, since he is no longer with us. I tried to write together with him, respecting his taste (which I share, so that wasn't much of an effort) but without reverence: if something didn't work for me, I tried to see whether changing it made it work better. Adapting a screenplay for the stage is not automatic: cinema reveals certain aspects of life and writing, theatre reveals others. Which is to say that those who loved the film will find it again, but what I tried to do with this adaptation, and will try to do with the show, is not a reheated dish. It's something else – let's all hope something more, not something less. Four actors will be on stage. Two play him and her, the couple; the other two, together with the set, will play the whole world, because on this Mattia Torre is very clear: when he looks into a room through the keyhole, it's the whole world he is trying to see. We'll give it a go. I can't wait.

Fausto Paravidino

da November 2026

DISPONIBILE DA GENNAIO 2027