Pluto
rewriting from Aristophanes’s Pluto
direction and dramaturgy Marco Martinelli
assistant directors Valeria Pollice and Gianni Vastarella
with the collaboration of the theatre guides project “Sogno di Volare”
set and lighting design Vincent Longuemare
costume design Roberta Mattera
music by Ambrogio Sparagna
music performed by Erasmo Treglia, Vincenzo Core, Antonio Matrone
with the participation of the students of the Polo liceale “Ernesto Pascale” di Pompei, dell’Istituto Tecnico “Eugenio Pantaleo” di Torre del Greco, dell’Istituto Tecnico “Renato Elia” di Castellammare di Stabia e Liceo “Giorgio De Chirico” di Torre Annunziata
production Parco Archeologico di Pompei
in collaboration with Ravenna Festival, Teatro Mercadante – Teatro Stabile di Napoli
This is the last of Aristophanes’ eleven surviving comedies. Chremylos is obsessed with the injustices that plague his city, Athens: why does wealth only flow to evildoers? Based on the advice from an oracle, he follows the first person he meets: a blind man who turns out to be Plutus, the god of wealth. No wonder money only flows to the crooks and the corrupt: the god simply cannot see! So Chremylos cures him and restores his sight: a ‘revolutionary’ act that will bring wealth and serenity to those who deserve them. The text offers countless variations on the comic, but always focuses on the violent contradictions of the ‘polis’, from the rejection of war to the distribution of wealth. And once again, Martinelli’s skilful hand knows how to ‘tune’ an archaic text through the vital and wild improvisations of 80 Neapolitan teenagers.
