Ben Gazzara, the actor who originated the role of Brick in the Broadway production of Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, will discuss his life and work at New York University’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, located at 24 W. 12th Street, on Tuesday, January 25, at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public; for further information call 212.998.3862.

In a conversation with Antonio Monda, associate professor film and TV at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and actor/director Laura Caparrotti, Gazzara will discuss his new book In the Moment: My Life as an Actor (Carroll & Graf).

The son of Sicilian immigrants, Gazzara, after his debut as Brick, spent the next 20 years working with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Shelley Winters, Orson Welles, Anna Magnani, Frank Sinatra, and Anthony Hopkins, among others. He is most celebrated for his work with director John Cassavetes. Gazzara’s most recent films — Happiness, Buffalo 66, The Spanish Prisoner, and Dogville — continue to shape the independent film tradition for new generations.
link : http://www.nyu.edu/public.affairs/releases/detail/151

And the sponsorship of The center for Italian and Italian american culture

KITCAFFE’ In Montclair

Italian Literary Salon

Professional readings in English followed by the Italian version from masterpieces by Italian writers from the past to the present.

Q&A after the reading and refreshments are served.

February 8th, MONDAY, 7-9pm: FUN and LOVE

March 7th, SUNDAY, 4-6pm: Women Writers

April 12th, MONDAY, 7-9pm: Day of Remembrance

May 10th, Monday, 7-9pm: MAMMA!

June 14th, Monday, 7-9pm: Authors TBA

The refreshments are kindly donated by Trumpets Jazz Club.

$20 pp including materials, coffee, desserts and wine. Reserve today!

NJ coordinators:  Kristine Massari & Ruth Kunstadter, licensed NJ teachers of Italian.

Hosts: Laura Caparrotti & Marta Mondelli, KIT

For More Information

KIT-Kairos Italy Theater: www.kitheater.com

Trumpets Jazz Club: www.trumpetsjazz.com

R.S.V.P. via email: KMassari@aol.com or by calling Trumpets’ reservation line: 973-486-0822

Teachers will receive a certificate for two professional development hours.

See past KITCAFFE’ @ the cell events:

Oct 5, 2009

Oct 25, 2009

Also KITCAFFE’ @ the cell| learn more

Friday, Dec 11th – 6:30pm

The Cell Theater (338 W 23rd Street)

US PREMIERE OF “TOSCA E LE ALTRE DUE” (TOSCA AND THE TWO DOWNSTAIRS) BY FRANCA VALERI, TO BE PERFORMED BY KAIROS ITALY THEATER AT THE CELL IN CHELSEA

Play-within-an-Opera is U.S. debut for one of the most influential and important contemporary Italian women playwrights.

WHERE AND WHEN

February 3 to 21, 2010

The Cell, 338 W 23rd Street, Manhattan

Presented by Kairos Italy Theater and The Cell

First week: Wed – Sat at 8:00 pm, Sat and Sun at 3:00 PM

Second week: Fri – Sat at 8:00 PM, Sat and Sun at 3:00 PM

Third week: Wed – Sat at 8:00 PM, Sat and Sun at 3:00 PM

Tickets $ 20.00 – $ 15.00 students and seniors

Box office: www.brownpapertickets.com, 800-838-3006

Press Representative:  Jonathan Slaff & Associates, (212) 924-0496, js@jsnyc.com.

Tosca e le Altre Due

NEW YORK, January 9–From February 3 to 21, 2010, Kairos Italy Theater (KIT) and The Cell will present the U.S. premiere of “Tosca e le altre due” (Tosca and The Two Downstairs), a satirical, behind-the-scenes sister-story to Puccini’s “Tosca” as imagined by one of the wittiest and most admired Italian playwright and actresses, Franca Valeri.  The piece is directed by Laura Caparrotti, Artistic Director of KIT, and its English translation is by Natasha Lardera.  The piece will be staged at The Cell, a new multi-arts facility located at 338 West 23rd Street (between 8th Ave. and 9th Ave.) in Manhattan.

The play will be acted by Laura Caparrotti and Marta Mondelli in Italian with English supertitles KIT-Kairos Italy Theater is a rarity: a bilingual Italian-English theater company that presents Italian theatrical works of literary merit. It is named for Kairos, the Greek god of the fleeting moment. The prologue will be acted in voice over by Rocco Sisto. Set design is by Lucretia Moroni.

“Tosca” by Puccini is based on a drama by Sardou. In this well-known opera, Mario Cavarodossi, a painter who has concealed a dangerous political prisoner, is being protected by his lover, a celebrated singer named Tosca.  Cavarodossi is tortured to reveal the whereabouts of the prisoner to Scarpia, the chief of police, who has promised to save the painter by a mock execution if Tosca will give herself to him.  She ultimately agrees, but stabs Scarpia at the last moment.  The execution is, however, a real one and in grief, Tosca leaps from a battlement to her death.  This year is the 110th anniversary of the opera, which debuted on January 14, 1900.

“Tosca e le altre due“ by Franca Valeri shares the 19th century setting and events of the opera, but refracts them through two memorable women characters who share them from the outside. The torture’s screams and scuffles are overheard from upstairs by the wife of the torturer and the female doorkeeper of Palazzo Farnese in Rome, where the interrogation is taking place.  The play is a wry and humorous character study of these two women, outsiders, who are accidentally close to the passions and politics of the story.

In the play, the doorkeeper’s lodge of the Palazzo Farnese is dominated by Emilia, a proud Roman woman who is responsible for upholding both the house’s decorum and the reputation of the powerful and wicked Baron Scarpia.  She is married to Nando, the jailer of the Castel Sant’Angelo; a strong housewife who doesn’t get easily upset over the constant shouting and somewhat shady affairs of the Palazzo.  The politics of Rome in 1800 are important to keep in mind. Napoleon having invaded Italy, power was shifting between the old royalists (who employ Scarpia) and the young Italian revolutionaries (like Cavaradossi), who wanted Italy to become a republic along French lines.  Emilia passionately supports anything Baron Scarpia must do to wield his authority.

One night, a woman named Iride sneaks into the porter’s lodge. She is an actress and former prostitute from outside Milan who has come to pick up her husband, Sciarrone, the galley-sergeant and sadistic factotum of Scarpia.  Sciarrone is working late at a very delicate job on the upper floor of Palazzo Farnese: he is forcefully interrogating a variety of prisoners, among whom is Cavaradossi, Tosca’s lover.  His techniques are cruel, but Scarpia knows that Sciarrone’s methods, when applied to Cavaradossi, may be an efficient way to shock poor Tosca, whom he desires, into surrendering her body to him.

Emilia and Iride patiently wait for the end of Sciarrone’s shift.  With the prisoners’ tortured screams in the background, the two women keep each other company.  Scattered through their dialogue are inserts of the actual opera performance. In the course of the play, all the characters in “Tosca”–including Scarpia, Spoletta, Roberti and Cavaradossi–pass by and are commented on by the two women, whose conversations are a hilarious parody of common people’s life.  Their gossip reveals the miserable daily struggles of the poor but ugly, who must dwell among state secrets that are much larger than they are.  The situation peels away to reveal a desperate women’s plot.  Iride is not there just to wait for her thuggish husband, but to escape from him.  A dangerous plan is born free her.

Divided almost like the three acts of Tosca, “Tosca and the two downstairs” moves between two Roman settings,the church Sant’Andrea della Valle and the Palazzo Farnese. It starts out deceptively satirical, comical and light, then enlarges into a very profound analysis of its two characters.  Emilia, although stern, conservative and protective of her position in the status quo, is revealed to be empathetic to a fault and willing to risk her life to help anyone. Iride, who had escaped a life with no “moral” pretensions, would now rather return to the streets than endure her violent, cruel husband.

The play had its debut on 1978 in Italy with Franca Valeri as Emilia and Adriana Asti as Iride. In the U.S., the play has been presented by KIT-Kairos Italy Theater in the form of a reading at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU and at the Ciao Italy Festival in Brooklyn.

This is the first U.S. production of a play by Franca Valeri. Born in Milan in 1920, she is the first female comic actress and satiric playwright to enjoy steady success from the 1950s to today. Her unforgettable women characters–above all the “Signorina Snob,” the satirical portrait of a rich girl from Milan–made her very popular in the 50s. During a career that now, despite the age, shows no signs of slowing down, Ms. Valeri has worked in about 53 films with the most famous Italian directors and actors such as Alberto Sordi, Vittorio De Sica, Toto’, Dino Risi among many others. In addition, she has written several screenplays and plays. Ms. Valeri is also an opera connoisseur who has directed several operas and founded a competition for young opera singers. In 2010, she will debut in a brand new show and celebrate her 90th birthday.

Laura Caparrotti (Emilia) has a degree in Performing Arts and Cinema from the University “La Sapienza” in Rome. She studied with Nobel Prize Dario Fo, French legend Annie Girardot and others. After years of professional theater in Italy, she relocated to New York, where she has directed and/or performed in venues such as The Kitchen, The Fringe Festival, the Abrons Arts Center, the Bernie West Theatre, Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo’, the Center for Jewish History and the Lincoln Center. Off Broadway, she has been Assistant to the Director in “Souls of Naples” featuring John Turturro. She is also the worldwide representative for the Italian icon, Antonio De Curtis-Totò as well as a playwright, a journalist, an Italian and Theater teacher, a lecturer, a consultant, a curator and a panelist for NYSCA.  She is the Artistic Director of KIT-Kairos Italy Theater.

Marta Mondelli (Iride) earned degrees in Ancient History at the University of Bologna and in Acting at the European Theater School of Bologna. In Italy, she has appeared in several productions of her theater company, Chièdiscena, and in movies such as “Stai con me” with Giovanna Mezzogiorno. In New York, she has been performing in independent movies such as “Crossing” with Anthony Mackie, and “The Groomsmen” with Brittany Murphy and Ed Burns. In theater, she had leading roles in several Off-off Broadway productions and in the Off-Broadway show, “Box of Fools.” She studies acting with Susan Batson, writes for the Huffington Post and her feature film debut as writer/director, “The Contenders” is currently touring international film festivals. She has been part of KIT since 2004.

Rocco Sisto (Prologue, VO) has been seen in several movies, including the cult hit “The American Astronaut,” “Donnie Brasco”, “Carlito’s Way,” “Illuminata,” “Frequency” and “Lorenzo’s Oil.” On television, Sisto played young Junior Soprano in HBO’s “The Sopranos.” He has appeared in “Law and Order,” “Law and Order C.S.I.,” “Close to Home,” “Alias,” “N.Y.P.D. Blue,” “J.A.G.,” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” In theater, he is a founding member of Shakespeare & Co. and he has often acted in the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte Theater. On Broadway and Off-Broadway, he has appeared in numerous successful plays such as “Quills,” “Amadeus,” “The Comedy of Errors” and “Souls of Naples”. He has received an OBIE for “The Winters Tale” and an OBIE, a Drama Desk nomination and a Drama League Award for his role in “Quills.”

Natasha Lardera (Translation) has a degree in Film and Creative Writing from Emerson College and a Master in Journalism from NYU. She is a journalist, translator, writer, critic who has been managing editor of various Italian and American publications focused on theater, cinema, food, wine, and tourism.  She is also an actress and songwriter. Since 2004, she has translated for KIT and collaborated on several shows including “Accattone in Jazz,” a play with Italian celebrity Valerio Mastandrea based on Pasolini’s film “Accattone,” which was performed at Lincoln Center. She has translated plays by Dino Buzzati, and poetry by Totò and other Italian personalities.

Lucretia Moroni (Set Designer) was born in Milan, attended the renowned Van der Kelen School in Brussels and continued her training in interiors with the Renzo Mongiardino architecture firm in Milan. After working with Franco Zeffirelli on the sets of “La Traviata,” she moved to New York City in the early 1980’s. She has worked on a large number of private and public projects, including the renovation of Bethesda Fountain in Central Park and residences in Italy, South America and the U.S. Her work has been published widely in design and general magazines worldwide. In 1997, she founded Fatto a Mano, a creative workshop located in New York which designs and produces a variety of printed silk and linen fabrics, some of which will be used in the set. (www.fatto-a-mano.com)

Kairos Italy Theater (KIT) is the only troupe focused on bilingual (Italian and English) theater in New York. It is named for the Greek god of the fleeting moment. KIT’s mission is to create a cultural exchange program between Italy, the US and the international community, to unveil artistic and creative sides of these two countries to the world. In the States, KIT is dedicated to spreading the Italian Culture and to creating an Italian Cultural Network in order to support and further increase the knowledge of Italy in the States. (www.kitheater.com)

Its productions include the multi-media performance “Black Paintings”, the dance-theater piece “Necklaces”, “Cabaret s’Il vous plait!” (a collection of famous Italian comic sketches), “Una conversazione continuamente interrotta ” by Ennio Flaiano, “ABC L’Italiano S’Impara Cosi’,” “A Roman Tour,” “How Bread met the Rolling Pin” all by Laura Caparrotti and the US premiere of “Philosophically Speaking” by Eduardo De Filippo. KIT organized series such as “Fellini-Flaiano: a different take,” “Caricatures from Tolentino,” “Fellini and The Myth of I Vitelloni in Italian Cinema,” featuring the exhibition “Fellini and the Sixth Vitellone” curated by the Cineteca di Bologna. KIT has created a series called Double Theatre, with one act performed in English followed by its original Italian version. Double theater titles are “Alessia” by Mario Fratti and the US Premiere of “The Papaleo Case” by Ennio Flaiano. KIT Inc. is also responsible for the traveling exhibition and series on Italian Icon Toto’, “Excerpts of a Prince named-Toto’.” In the last few years, KIT has started classes of Italian and Theatre for children in the Tri-state area, the magazine on-line Kitinthecity.com, and the Literary Salon KITCAFFE’ focused on Italian writers. In 2010, KIT will inaugurated “KIT project: Italian theater in translation” in collaboration with the Flea Theater.

This production of “Tosca e le altre due” in New York is sponsored by the Italian Cultural Institute in New York and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU. Special thanks to the Baroness Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimo’.

KIT-KAIROS ITALY THEATER

PRESENTS

A FUNNY AND EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE ABC… L’ITALIANO SI IMPARA COSI’

(HOW TO LEARN ITALIAN IN ONE HOUR)

By & With Laura Caparrotti

A very unique method used by Miss Margherita, a despotic Teacher-Diva, to teach Italian to any Italian student. Starting from what is more well-known in the US about Italy – Love, Food, Literature, Art, Tourism and Music – Miss Margherita will explain and teach the Italian language, culture, art and tradition to the audience.

Miss Margherita will bring the audience through Italy, exploring the stereotypical figures for which Italy is more known around the world: A=Amore (LOVE) – B= Buono (good like Italian FOOD) – C=Citta’ (CITIES – including Italian dialects).

Through scenes from Italian theater, through music (from the old Italian songs to the most contemporary hits) and a lot of images; together with the some of the most representative Italian authors from Dante to today’s writers and the most contemporary poet/actors, ABC… will play with the history, the pronunciation, the variety of the Italian language AND with the audience. The show will educate the audience on the history of Italy focusing on the cities chosen to be Italy’s best testimonial of differences and similarities among the Nation. The cities are Bolzano, Milano, Firenze, Roma, Napoli, and Palermo.

At the end, each student will earn the MARGHERITA’S DIPLOMA, the MOST IMPORTANT degree in Italian Studies, together with a picture with the famous teacher! (Only for Junior High Schools and when possible)

Full Program: KIT will provide the teachers with the script of the performance one month in advance. The KIT staff will be anyway available to work directly with teachers, providing any support requested. The Performer will come to the class in order to explain in advance what they are going to see and to analyze part of the script.

A,B,C has been performed at the Ciao Italy Festival in Brooklyn, and in schools, communities and theaters in New York, in Washington D.C.,  in New Jersey (Montclair, New Providence), in Florida (Naples and West Palm Beach), in Long Island and in Connecticut (Norwalk).

TECHNICAL DETAILS

THE PERFORMANCE IS PRESENTED IN ITALIAN AND IN ENGLISH.

RUNNING TIME: ABOUT ONE HOUR

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT:

THREE CHAIRS – CD PLAYER;

MONITOR OR SCREEN + DATA PROJECTOR OR SIMILAR (THE SLIDE SHOW USED FOR THE SHOW IS IN POWER POINT)

IT’S ALSO POSSIBLE TO ADD RELATED EVENTS SUCH AS LECTURES, SCREENING AND/OR READINGS. FEES OF THE RELATED EVENTS ARE TO BE DISCUSSED WITH KIT.

Coordinated by Laura Caparrotti

A journey in the Italian cabaret from the 50’s to the present. Comic sketches and characters created for television and broadcasting shows by the most famous authors and comedians of the time.

These sketches were born to be acted or singing by very important actors as Ugo Tognazzi and Raimondo Vianello, Walter Chiari, Dario Fo, Gino Bramieri, Nino Manfredi, Franca Valeri and others.  In Italy the cabaret was born in the 50’s, both at the radio, like one acts or characters, and in theater with the Rivista Da Camera, show made in a small stage, presenting various sketches very comic and very actual. I Gobbi (Alberto Bonucci, Franca Valeri, Vittorio Caprioli) were the first famous group that performed there. After them, Il Dito nell’Occhio with Dario Fo, Giustino Durano, Franco Parenti and Controcorrente with Walter Chiari. In the 60’s many others stages of cabaret were opened: La Borsa d’Arlecchino in Genoa, Il Derby in Milan were the most famous. From there, the cabaret arrived in television, loosing the traditional satiric strength: but the cabaret is and will be always one of the most genuine faces of the society.

IN ITALIAN – For High Schools and Universities. And general Audience.

Running time: 1 hour.

Technical supplies: 3 Chairs – 1 Audio resource as Tape or
CD Player (Optional)

Cabaret s’il vous plait! was presented
at the  Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU (1998-2002),
The Saint John’s University (May 2000), The Italian Cultural
Institute (April 2000), at The Italian Festival in Queens (Summer
1998), at The Miranda Theater (November 1997).

Related Events

It’s possible to organize the following related events:

1. Screening of films by the authors and with the actors cited
   in the performance;
2. Lecture on Italian Cabaret and his influence in Italian
   Culture;
3. Lecture on the History of Italian Theater and Cinema in
   the 50s and 60s trough their protagonists.
4. Lecture on the Tradition of Commedia Dell’Arte in Italian
   acting from the 50s to the present.

Kairos Italy Theater Inc. presents the first English translation ever of The Papaleo Case – Il Caso Papaleo

By Ennio Flaiano

From the screenwriter of La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2, a satirical one act play about the absurdly funny resurrection of a self-absorbed writer and the demise of his illusions.

This is a KIT Double Theatre performance:

The one-act play, in English, followed by its performance in Italian.
Translated by Marisa Trubiano – Directed
by Laura Caparrotti

With: Emanuele Secci - Marta Mondelli - Laura
Caparrotti

Original Music by Luca Toller

Best known for his long-time collaboration with Federico Fellini, Ennio Flaiano was also an adept playwright who specialized in satire. His witty aphorisms and brilliant mind are legendary in Italy. An American audience might liken Flaiano to a more resigned, European Woody Allen, for example. The incurable skeptic Flaiano once said: “If I had half an hour left to live, I would at least spend it believing in the soul’s immortality.” This “little farce” is his unforgettable, quirky
reflection about what might come after and what really remains…

Il caso Papaleo was first performed in 1960 at the Festival dei due Mondi in Spoleto, where some of Flaiano’s plays debuted. Many famous actors,
like Vittorio Gassman and Vittorio Caprioli, were involved with Flaiano’s theater. None of Flaiano’s satires has ever been translated into English. Indeed, this event marks the World premiere of The Papaleo Case in English. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Institute for Disabled Children in Lugano.

Synopsis: The wealthy writer Roberto Papaleo is dreaming about his adolescent romance with the unforgettable Angela. He awakens abruptly, only to find himself buried in his family’s mortuary chapel, fully outfitted with phone and electricity, in the event that the deceased return to life. Papaleo swiftly learns that coming back to this existence is much more painful than leaving it. All his problems and disappointments come flooding back: an indifferent family, a forgettable career. Determined not to waste this new lease on life, Papaleo phones Angela, his one true love. The absurd things that happen next are an unforgettable commentary – witty, satirical, and touchingly melancholy – about youthful dreams and ideals and their unfortunate demise.

The Papaleo Case – Il Caso Papaleo had its US debut was at the Theater for the New City in Manhattan. The performance was sponsored by the Consulate General of Italy of NY, the Italian Cultural Institute in NY, the Joseph and Elda Coccia Institute for the Italian Experience in America, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Montclair State University. and the Fondo Flaiano of the Biblioteca Cantonale in Lugano. It was also endorsed by the Consulate General of Switzerland.

About the author:

Ennio Flaiano (1910-1972). Best known for the work he did in conjunction with Fellini, Italian screenwriter Ennio Flaiano and his most frequent collaborator Tullio Pinelli penned many scripts during the ’50s and ’60s. Before coming to film, Flaiano was an architect, a professional writer, a drama and film critic, and an author. Fellini appreciated Flaiano’s deft humor, dry observations on culture, and subtlety and used the writer to help pen some of his best films including La
Strada (1954), La Dolce Vita (1960) and 81/2 (1963). He wrote 57 screenplays and subjects. Among them: Too bad she’s bad by Blasetti, The Night by Antonioni, Toto’ and Carolina by Mario Monicelli, and El Verdugo by Luis Garcia Berlanga. He won the first edition of the Premio Strega in 1947 with his novel Tempo di Uccidere (A Time to Kill).His The Via Veneto Papers are also available in English.

About the translator

Marisa Trubiano is Assistant Professor of Italian at Montclair State University. Her primary research interests are 20th century Italian literature and film. Her
current book project focuses on the importance of the scriptwriter and journalist Ennio Flaiano, with particular attention to his role as culture critic, his 15-year collaboration with Federico Fellini, and his novel Tempo di uccidere, (A Time to Kill, 1947) and several other projects that constitute some of the most striking examples of anticolonialist Italian literature.

Marisa is also involved in Italian American Studies. She and some of her students are currently engaged in an oral history project on the Italians of Montclair. Marisa was appointed Commissioner on the New Jersey State Italian and Italian American Heritage Commission, serves as the Chairperson of its Higher
Education Committee, and was elected to the board of the Modern Language Association’s Italian American Discussion Group.

Technical Needs:

Audio Resource (CD);

Light board with10-20 lights to operate;

About 10 black cubes (or something similar)

The set is very simple and is adaptable to any location.

Rehearsals: at least One day Rehe & tech.

Related Events:

It is possible to organize the following events, at a nominal
additional cost:

1. • The Exhibit Fellini and Rossi: the Sixth Vitellone curated
     by the Cineteca of Bologna. The photographic exhibit tells
     the riveting backstage story behind all of Fellini’s films
     up to 81/2;
   • A lecture on the history of the phenomenon of I Vitelloni in
     Italian cinema and culture;
   • A series of film screenings, with apresentation on Flaiano’s
     cinematic works;
   • A comprehensive lecture on Flaiano.

Professional readings in English followed by the Italian version of pages from masterpieces by Italian writers from the past to the present. All set in a cafe’ atmosphere.

All the readings are presented in English followed by the Italian version.

Admission: $15.00

3 KITCAFFE’@The Cell series: $ 36.00

Group 10+, please contact Kairos Italy Theater at info@kitheater.com or at 212-254 4025

More KITCAFFE’@the cell:

Friday December 11

more photos

KIT is very proud to present the very first KITCAFFE’ a literary series in Italian, with some English, to discover the most fascinated and beloved Italian writers from the past to the present.

Centuries ago, first in Paris, and then all over Europe, Cafes’ and Salotti Letterari became meeting point for artists and
intellectuals to discuss ideas as well as every day facts. While the Cafes’ were open to the public and attended mostly
by men, the Salotti Letterari were private events, organized by cultural refined Ladies, often aristocrats, who loved to
bring together people of different backgrounds to discuss and exchange opinions and knowledge.

KIT is now recreating its own Salotto-Caffe’ Letterario, hosted by KIT’s ladies, Laura Caparrotti and Marta Mondelli, as well as other surprise guests. In a two-hour event, the guests will be introduced each time to two wonderful Italian writers from the past and the present.

Professional actors will engage in dramatic readings of short stories, excerpts from novels or essays by the most fascinated and beloved Italian authors from the past to the present.  Following KIT’s tradition, the reading will be first in English followed by its Italian version.

Copies of the reading material will be provided in advance to give the opportunity to follow the professional reading. After the reading, the hosts will moderate the post reading discussion, the exchange of ideas and opinions, while correcting Italian and Italian pronunciation.

Being in a Salotto/Caffe’, wine, and
pastries will be served to the guests.

The pastries are kindly provided by Sora Lella NYC Restaurant (300 Spring Street @ Hudson street).

The event is presented in collaboration with The Cell.

For everyone who reads and understands Italian, and wishes to reading and understanding more about our culture!

See past KITCAFFE’ @ the cell events:

Oct 5, 2009

Oct 25, 2009

Also KITCAFFE’ in Montclair | learn more

Monday, Dec 7th – time tba

Trumpets Jazz Club (Montclair, NJ)

Alessia

From Sacrifici – Sacrifices
By

Mario Fratti

Directed by Laura Caparrotti

Alessia is the story of a daughter sacrificing
herself for her mother… a real mother, as she says.

Alessia was presented from May 8th to 11th 2003 at
the Sande Shurin Theater

(311 W 43rd Street – 6th Floor, NYC-NY).

MARIO FRATTI, professor of Italian
literature at Hunter College, is an internationally acclaimed
playwright and drama critic. Author of such works as Suicide, The
Cage, The Return, The Academy, Mafia, Races,
and The Bridge, he is best known for his musical Nine (inspired
by Fellini’s famous film, 8 1/2) which won the O’Neill Award,
the Richard Rogers Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, eight
Drama Desk Awards, and five Tony Awards. Fratti’s nearly forty
plays have received some four hundred productions in two dozen
countries and have been translated into many languages. Fratti
was born in Italy but has been living in New York City since 1963.
In addition to his writing achievements, he also serves as New
York drama critic for nine European newspapers.