Some of the outstanding works by British playwright Lucy Kirkwood are finally being staged in Italy, with productions of The Children and The Welkin currently showing in major theatres. The latter, which premiered at London’s National Theatre in 2020, made its Italian debut, under the title Empireo (The Heavens) at Milan’s Carcano theatre in late January. The auditorium, with a seating capacity of 1400, was almost full, signalling that the two artistic directors, Lella Costa and Serena Sinigaglia, at the helm since 2020, have succeeded in creating an audience for intellectually challenging, new plays. Directed by Sinigaglia and translated by Monica Capuani and Francesco Bianchi, The Welkin dramatizes an unusual trial. In 1759, on the border between Norfolk and Suffolk in rural England, Sally Poppy and Thomas McKay are accused of savagely murdering a young girl. As the play opens, the man has just been hanged, after a hearing lasting just 18 minutes, while Sally has been temporarily reprieved as she claims she is pregnant. Consequently, the Judge has made the decision of asking a jury of twelve women to decide whether Sally’s claim is true. If they agree the young woman is pregnant, she will be transported, rather than hanged and anatomised.
It is always interesting to reflect on why one play rather than another manages to make the often arduous journey from the UK to Italy for a full-scale production. In a programme note, Sinigaglia underscores that she was drawn to The Welkin by the unrhetorical and never banal way Lucy Kirkwood tackles questions of gender, and by the cast, where women outnumber men, seventeen to two. Translator Monica Capuani, who is also dramaturg on the production and whose longstanding role as a cultural mediator first brought the play to Sinigaglia’s attention, pointed to another leitmotiv: the different, and often unfair, way women and the female body are treated by a legal system created by men. As the lead character, Elisabeth Luke, a midwife, healer and washerwoman, comments, being part of an all-female jury means the women have a unique opportunity to handle this case differently from the men in the adjacent courtroom, provided they can reach a unanimous verdict, regarding Sally’s pregnancy. Given these questions, regarding the treatment of women in the hands of the law and gender inequality, remain largely unsolved, it becomes clear why these two practitioners were so keen to stage this highly idiosyncratic ‘history’ play, and why audiences in Milan have flocked to see it.
Empireo (The Heavens), by Lucy Kirkwood, translated by Monica Capuani and Francesco Bianchi, directed by Serena Sinigaglia.
For the Italian production, the director has opted for a minimalist set of just fourteen chairs, 12 for the jurors, one for Sally Poppy, and another, for Billy Coombe, a Bailiff, whose task is to make sure the women refrain from eating and drink and to relay their verdict to the judge (the same actor plays a Physician and Judge). Sinigaglia’s stylistic decision to have Coombes read many of the stage directions, rather than the performers acting out some of the scenes, suggests the idea of a Greek Chorus, so giving the play a universality which it would not have had in a more realistic staging. The Italian ensemble are mostly well-known actors who manage to breathe life into what is a startling assortment of female characters of different ages and social classes, superbly depicted by Kirkwood. I had the impression of watching a huge fresco coming to life before my eyes, as each of the women was sworn in and went on to give a short self-description, revealing her personality, background and initial opinion regarding the accused woman. The whole play revolves around this decision-making process, during which the audience are continually startled by unexpected twists and revelations, as members of the female jury, sometimes abruptly, change sides or reveal hitherto unknown information (which I won’t reveal since it would be a spoiler for anyone who hasn’t seen the play). The production deftly underscores the frequent shifts in the original between tragedy and comedy. On the one hand, the sombre atmosphere of the decision to be made and its consequences – the life or death of a young woman. Elisabeth Luke, played by Arianna Scommegna, tellingly admonishes Coombes, “You give us an hour to make a decision which must be lived with for an eternity”. Scommegna superbly embodies the many facets of Elisabeth’s character, her keen intellect, but also her vulnerability and amazing determination in the final parts of the play. On the other hand, the lively, sometimes coarse banter among the women about their everyday lives. Mary Middleton, who is pregnant, vociferously reminds us, in a sort of comic refrain, that she has ‘a field full of leeks to be pulled by night”. Instead, the upper-class matron, Charlotte Cary, who turns out to be an impostor, haughtily and absurdly accuses Sally of immorality for having stolen nothing more than six nutmegs, at the same time reminding us of the notable social tensions in mid-Eighteenth-century England. Seated far left, is the isolated, dishevelled figure of Sally Poppy, played by Viola Marietti, who sensitively conveys the rapid mood changes of this outspoken, defiant young woman, desperately fighting for her life.
In an interview, Monica Capuani revealed the challenges of translating this particular script, given the wide range of linguistic registers deployed. For the translation of the colourful 18th century locutions and words belonging to the area around East Anglia in the original, she quite rightly decided against using an Italian dialect or dialects, which would have located the play in a particular area of Italy. Instead, she has searched for terminology in contemporary spoken Italian, varying the language according to the age and social classes of the women jurors. Her choice creates an Italian which makes the script flow beautifully, but which inevitably loses the regional specificity of the original script.
After Milan, the play will tour to co-producers in Lugano (Switzerland), Genova, Naples, Pordenone, Bolzano, no mean feat for a production with such a large cast, and by an author who is still unknown to many Italian theatre-goers.
Empireo (The Heavens), by Lucy Kirkwood, translated by Monica Capuani and Francesco Bianchi, directed by Serena Sinigaglia.
CREDITS
The Welkin by Lucy Kirkwood
translated by Monica Capuani and Francesco Bianchi
dramaturg Monica Capuani
starring, in alphabetical order, Giulia Agosta, Alvise Camozzi, Matilde Facheris, Viola Marietti, Francesca Muscatello, Marika Pensa, Valeria Perdonò, Maria Pilar Pérez Aspa, Arianna Scommegna, Chiara Stoppa, Anahì Traversi, Arianna Verzeletti, Virginia Zini, Sandra Zoccolan
director Serena Sinigaglia
set Maria Spazzi
costume Martina Ciccarelli
lighting design Christian LaFace
sound design Sandra Zoccolan
assistant director Michele Iuculano
vocal coach Francesca Della Monica
movement coach Riccardo Micheletti
producers Teatro Carcano, Teatro Nazionale di Genova, Teatro Stabile di Bolzano, LAC – Lugano Arte Cultura, Teatro Bellini di Napoli
BPER supports women’s theatre
This post was written by the author in their personal capacity.The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of The Theatre Times, their staff or collaborators.
This post was written by Margaret Rose.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.
