NARRATING THE ARCHIVES 

Among the activities organized by the Historical Archives of the Foundation, there have been eight internships for theatre and creative writing called La Linea Scritta, curated by Antonella Cilento.

The workshops, which were active from November 2014 to June 2015, allowed the participants to literally get their hands on the pages of past history to find new stories to tell.

New stories which were rooted in the lives of celebrities of common people who live in past centuries, as the documents from the Archives show.These documents are analyzed and reused to give new life to the figures found within them.

The final objective of the program is to publish each original theatre piece and put  them on stage.

The eight workshops for 2015/2016 are divided into the following themes:

–1656: the Plague in Naples

Dreams and visions, from the details to the whole

Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7, 2015

There are many stories about the streets of Naples in the time of the Plague; the first theme addressed in the workshop was the terrible disease that afflicted the population of the city.

“Banco del Salvatore, June 16, 1656, 50 ducats to Cesare Festa in an account for the graves that he will have to dig on the right and on the left of the Sportiglioni Grotto in order to bury the cadavers, and to have a door built at the main entrance and every other entrance to the grotto by the hand of Pietro Di Marino.”

– Painters: Caravaggio, Mattia Preti, Velazquez

The Characters’ Voice La voce dei personaggi

Friday, December 4 and Saturday, December 5, 2015

The great painters of 17th century Naples. Written in these documents are the payments showing commissioning, where some details of more or less famous incidents served as sources of inspiration for the participants in the workshop. Behind these ‘larger than life’ personalities lies the opportunity to create new stories

– Royal Hospice for the Poor

Surroundings, the Redolence of Places

Friday January 15 and Saturday, January 16, 2016

Many stories have crossed paths in a place such as the Royal Hospice for the Poor in Naples. The work of participants in the internships was to recuperate this place and these lives to obtain a unique scenario for a story, bringing back to life the atmospheres and the customs of the era, and weaving them together thanks to the documents of Archives.

– A Great Fire at the Bank

Weaving the Plot

Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13, 2016

An episode in the pages of the Archives: arson and the search for the guilty party. The plot thickens thanks to the many points of view. Telling a story from as many different viewpoints as possible. From those stories which are born out of one incident, there are many worlds which can emerge from an archive.

– 1799: the forgotten 

Short story or novel?

Friday March 11 and Saturday, March 12, 2016

Out of all of the personalities involved in the Neapolitan Revolution of 1799, not all of them are remembered in novels and official accounts. But the memory of the Archives is intact, and it gives back to us all of those ‘minor’ stories which are equally fascinating.

There is a huge amount of material relative to this period which can be used in short stories or novels.

– Scenes from History (with Stefania Bruno)

Friday April 15 and Saturday, April 16, 2016

Transforming the hints that become stories and the stories that become theatre productions. This workshop is dedicated to the transformation from the page to the stage.

– Hear their voices (with Stefania Bruno)

Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14, 2016

The stories of characters in theatrical productions emerge from the pages of documents to invoke their right to be told. This is the difference between a novel and a theatre piece. The voices of characters with their personalities and expressions recount the stories found in the ancient documents of the Archives.

From historical archival documents to the discovery of the many expressive forms a character can take.

–Disassemble and Reassemble (with Stefania Bruno)

Friday, June 10 and Saturday, June 11, 2016

From the Archives to the page, from two to three dimensions. This is the process that this internship in dramaturgy faces: to transfer the stories to the stage and let the spectators judge.

A workshop which allows the stage production of the original works produced.