LUṢ
vocals Ermanna Montanari
double bass and music Daniele Roccato
text Nevio Spadoni
sound direction and live electronics Andrea Veneri
lighting Luca Pagliano
organizzazione Silvia Pagliano, Francesca Venturi
concept and direction Ermanna Montanari and Marco Martinelli
coproduction Ravenna Festival, Albe / Ravenna Teatro
Three decades ago, Ermanna Montanari lent her voice and physique to Bêlda, the cantankerous protagonist of Luṣ(“Light”), a Romagna-dialect monologue by Nevio Spadoni. Bêlda yearns for light to escape the darkness of rural life she is condemned to. Orphaned at the age of three, she never met her father, whom her starving mother had slept with out of desperation. Accused of cursing a priest — possibly her father — who had dishonoured her mother’s corpse by having it exhumed, Bêlda works at night, treating both the poor and the rich—all equally affected by the hardships of life— who trust her magical powers and turn to her for help. The double bass accompaniment breathes new life into Spadoni’s extraordinary text and raw language, addressing the darkness of our times.
