La MaMa Puppet Series

Bong Bong Bong Against The Walls, Ting Ting Ting In Our Heads

By Pathological Theatre - Italy

October 14 – October 30, 2010

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Bong Bong Bong against the Walls, Ting Ting Ting in our Heads is the kind of play that could only be written from the experience of Dario D’Ambrosi, who for over 30 years has worked with mentally disabled people in Italy. It is the American debut for Set/Puppet Designer Aurora Buzzetti (Rome). Translation is by Celeste Moratti. It is a theatrical fantasy about mentally ill children in institutions, whose thoughts are cloudy but whose souls are clear, who are bespattered with pain but whose dignity shines.  In fairy tale style, it dramatizes how their imaginations are limitless and how they flourish when they are loved. The story is told with live music, singing, dance and puppets. Although it deals directly with lives of most troubled people, the play is fantastical and nonthreatening. It is recommended for audiences of all ages.

In the ’80s and ’90s, Dario D’Ambrosi marched irresistibly into the forefront of Italy’s theatrical ambassadors, a cohort led by Pirandello, DiFilippo and Dario Fo. In 1994, he received the equivalent of a Tony Award in his country: a prize for lifetime achievement in the theater from the Instituto del Drama Italiano. D’Ambrosi first performed at La MaMa in 1980 and has been in residence there nearly every year thereafter. Rosette Lamont wrote in Theater Week, “The yearly appearance of the Italian writer/performer Dario D’Ambrosi at La MaMa is cause for celebration.”

Last October, D’Ambrosi opened a new theater in a converted warehouse in a norther section of Rome. Named The Pathological Theater, it is home to his resident company of professional actors and a drama school for psychiatric patients. Set/Puppet Designer Aurora Buzzetti, a fast-emerging artist of Rome’s theatre crafts community, is a resident artist there. This world premiere, however, will be performed by American actors, as has been D’Ambrosi’s practice in each of his New York productions since 2004.

Written by Dario D'Ambrosi
Directed by Dario D'Ambrosi
Music by Christian De Gre
With: Ashley C. Williams, Celeste Moratti, George Drance, Phillip James, Theresa Linnihan

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