“Will the theaters open tomorrow?” is the question we have most frequently asked in these 14 months away from the stages. As we write we do not yet know the answer, but we know that we have not stopped believing that it can be positive. We have not stopped believing in the power of theater, of theaters, in their indispensability. And that we have never stopped believing in it during these long months when the meeting with those who give meaning to our work, to our art, has been denied us. The meeting with you, tomorrow’s spectators, who we hope will read these words comfortably seated in your seat, at the Teatro Alighieri, between May 11 and 16, 2021.
Since without a bit of madness, these days, one does not embark on a path of art, so we have decided to respond to the general crisis and, in particular, of the theater scene, by proposing a greatly expanded program of performances and by treasuring the reduced access to theaters to give space in the first place to independent companies and their research on the different languages of contemporary. Unlike many programs that replaced international and more experimental artists with entertainment shows at their first reopenings, POLIS 2021, in the year of Dante’s seven hundredth anniversary, takes refuge in some of the most interesting artists of the contemporary scene, offering its audience works that make them think about important issues such as human rights, racism, feminicide, the clash between generations, the climate emergency, and the role of art in society.
A dense program of sixteen events that include the hosting of as many as nine different performances, meetings, debates, and an extraordinary epilogue in July within the Ravenna Festival program, but also participatory projects, workshops, Suspended Tickets, which see the spectators at the center of our attention.
Davide Sacco and Agata Tomšič / ErosAntEros
