Guerra

Pippo Delbono, the Italian guru of modern theatre, always manages to kick up a storm with his performances. His plays are a mixture of theatre, dance, raw reality, improvisation and poetry. He considers drama a ‘plague’: ‘Theatre should affect your eyes, your nose, your mouth, all your senses, and hit you in your heart.’ Delbono’s company is made up from all kinds and conditions of people, from professional actors to street performers, drifters and handicapped people. A permanent member of the troupe is Bobó, a deaf-and-dumb man who was locked up in an institution for 45 years before Delbono took him in. With the politically charged play, Guerra (war), the Compagnia Pippo Delbono travels to Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Haifa and Nazareth. The tour was the source of inspiration for this film, Delbono’s first documentary. It is a carefully visualised, poetic reflection on life in Israel and Palestine, interlaced with scenes from the play and images of Delbono’s remarkable stars. The texts are from Delbono’s plays Guerra, Esodo and La rabbia – the latter a tribute to filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini.