On Thursday, 30 November, the press conference for the presentation of Festivabìlia – Theatre of Potential Abilities was held in the Sala degli Specchi at Palazzo Giuliari. Festivabìlia is a theatre festival featuring companies connected to the world of disability. The first edition of Festivabìlia coincides with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which takes place on December 3. The festival offers performances, meetings, and events that reflect on the body as a tool for communicating with others: in the case of disabilities, the body challenges prejudices and forces a conceptual, cultural, and social rethinking.
The first edition of Festivabìlia was presented by Massimiliano Badino, the rector’s inclusion advisor, Roberta Facchinetti, director of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Manuel Boschiero, professor of Slavic Studies and inclusion representative of the department, director Nicoletta Vicentini, and Davide Bonfante, president of the Teatro a Rotelle association.
The festival, sponsored by the City of Verona and the ESU of Verona, is part of the activities of the “Inclusive Humanities” Excellence Project of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. This project aims to promote inclusion in research and teaching, to eliminate social, cultural, and economic disparities both within and outside the university. The project has received five years of funding amounting to approximately 6.5 million euros. The department in Verona is one of five departments in this field of research that have been recognized for the second time as a “department of excellence” by the Ministry.
The Teatro a Rotelle company was founded in 2016 thanks to a collaboration between a group of students, the Office of Inclusion and Accessibility, theatre director Nicoletta Vicentini, and Professor Massimo Salgaro from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Today, the company includes about 20 students united by their passion for theatre and their desire to have fun by playfully blending their potential abilities. The word “rotelle” (wheels) in the name, while referring to disabilities, also evokes the wheels of the brain, constantly turning to make room for creativity.
A first meeting took place on Thursday, 23 November, with the preview presentation of Festivabìlia during the study day Inclusion on Stage: A Comparison of Inclusive Theatre Experiences. The festival will officially open on 4 December at 8:30 pm at Teatro Camploy with the company Emit Flesti from Trento, presenting the show Con voce nuova, l’inferno di Dante (With a New Voice: Dante’s Inferno). The festival continues on 6 December at 4:30 pm in room Smt. 06 of the Santa Marta complex with Making Music Inclusively: All-in Rock – The Integrated Concert Told by the Organizers and on 11 December at 4 pm, also at Santa Marta, with Self Help: The Utopia of the Mad – From Invisible to Citizen, a presentation of the book by psychiatrist Paolo Vanzini (Gabrielli Editore, 2022).
The festival continues on Wednesday, 13 December, at Teatro Camploy with the performance Triangoli, a contemporary reinterpretation of Cyrano de Bergerac, performed by the Teatro a Rotelle group from the University of Verona. On 18 December at 4 pm at Santa Marta, there will be a presentation titled I Fiori Blu: Musicateatro, an interdisciplinary journey of musical and theatrical training led by director Martina Palmieri. The final event will take place on 19 December at 8:30 pm at Camploy with the Gruppo Elettrogeno from Bologna performing the show Amuri.
All events and performances are free and open to the public.