COLAPESCE: AN AUDIO ADVENTURE. An Auditory Theatrical Event Premiere: October 10th 2020 on Viewcy

Sep 02, 2020 707

BY: Mariagrazia La Fauci

Trinacria Theatre Company is proud to announce their latest project: Colapesce: An Audio Adventure. Based off Trinacria’s 2016 stage production La Storia di Colapesce, this new family-friendly listening experience reimagines the Sicilian legend of Colapesce with the same imaginative spirit of the play.

A rich soundscape and original music help bring the tale to life and the full-cast album features both new and returning Trinacria Theatre Company artists. Colapesce: An Audio Adventure takes listeners of all ages on a fantastical journey through the mythical waters of the Strait of Messina, and into the heart of a courageous community facing terrible hardship.

Long ago, in a time when earthquakes, tsunamis, and other strange occurrences are wreaking havoc across Sicily, word spreads of a young boy from Messina named Cola—a fisherman’s son who spends so much of his time diving beneath the waves that many call “Colapesce” or “Cola the Fish.” Rumors of Cola’s incredible diving abilities eventually reach Sicily’s princess. Defying the wishes of her father, the arrogant king, the princess appeals to Cola to investigate what lies beneath the sea’s surface and find the cause of the destruction. Cola dives deeper and deeper into the Strait of Messina, encountering sirens and sea monsters along the way…until he learns that something even more sinister threatens the entire island. 

Colapesce: An Audio Adventure is based on Trinacria’s original script for La Storia di Colapesce, which was created collaboratively by eight multidisciplinary American theatre artists during a month-long residency in Messina, in Northeast Sicily. During that time, company members lived and worked in a small rural community learning about the local language, history, culture, and folklore. La Storia di Colapesce was performed in both Italian and English, and was presented free of charge for the Sicilian public, touring to five locations in the province of Messina in 2016. The performance also toured to New York City and three different locations in Massachusetts, and was featured on Italian public national broadcaster Rai Italia and Rai International.

Audiences in Sicily and the U.S. called La Storia di Colapesce "breathtaking," "enchanting," and "an amazing, inspiring, one of a kind performance." New England Theatre Geek called Trinacria “a group to watch” and said the show was “a wonderful testament to Trinacria Theatre Company’s storytelling... their message of giving life to myth in everyday people packed a powerful emotional punch.”

Encore performances of La Storia di Colapesce were scheduled in the New England area for June 2020, but these have been postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19. Proceeds from the sales of Colapesce: An Audio Adventure will support the creative artists and future touring of the stage production.

EVENT DETAILS

The virtual premiere event will take place at Saturday, October 10th on Viewcy at 1pm Pacific Time, 3pm Eastern Time, 9pm Central European Time. Premiere attendees will hear the first live broadcast as well as gain access to an exclusive interview with the creative team, hosted by Iyvon Edebiri of the Parsnip Ship Podcast Play Company. Entry to the premiere event also grants continued access to the page for repeat listening, streaming, or downloading.

Tickets to the premiere are $10. After the premiere on October 10th, the audio file will also be available as a download for $12 directly through Trinacria Theatre Company’s website.

Link to purchase tickets on Viewcy: https://www.viewcy.com/e/colapesce_an_audio_a

ABOUT THE TEAM

Colapesce: An Audio Adventure was adapted from the Trinacria Theatre Company’s 2016 stage production of La Storia di Colapesce.

Adapted and directed by Quinton Kappel. Additional writing by Sean Devare, Mariagrazia La Fauci, and Max Sklar. Dramaturgy by Max Sklar.

Featuring the vocal talents of Sean Devare, Clara Francesca, Mariagrazia La Fauci, Quinton Kappel, Dario Ladani Sanchez, Tristan Schaffer-Goldman, and Max Sklar.

Audiobook producer Becky Parker Geist of Pro Audio Voices. Executive producer Mariagrazia La Fauci.

Music direction and composition by Sean Devare, additional compositions by Dario Ladani Sanchez. Music performed by Sean Devare, Clara Francesca, Dario Ladani Sanchez, Max Sklar, and Valerie Thompson.

La Storia di Colapesce was conceived and created collaboratively by 2016 Trinacria Theatre Company founding members Josephine Cooper, Sean Devare, Quinton Kappel, Elena Kritter, Mariagrazia La Fauci, Kathleen Lewis, Dario Ladani Sanchez, and Max Sklar.

For team bios & more details please visit: http://www.trinacriatheatre.com/news/colapesce-an-audio-adventure

ABOUT TRINACRIA THEATRE COMPANY

Trinacria Theatre Company was founded in 2016 by Artistic Director and Sicilian-American theatre director, Mariagrazia La Fauci. The organization’s mission is to use the arts as a means of intercultural exchange, place making, and community building across the globe. Trinacria believes in the power of the arts to communicate across languages and create a bridge across cultures. The company focuses on place-specific projects, programs, and events in collaboration with underrepresented and hard-to-reach communities.

The organization has three main programmatic branches: a touring theatre company dedicated to developing original work; a immersive creative residency for international artists in the village of Pezzolo, Messina; and a small community-focused arts festival in Pezzolo that seeks to combine the beautiful ethos of this small village with the rich tapestry of exceptional international arts offerings.

In 2016, Trinacria hosted a company of eight multidisciplinary American theatre artists in Sicily for a one-month residency, in partnership with San Placido Calonerò and the Enoteca Provinciale Messina. The group collectively devised the full-length performance La Storia di Colapesce, which was performed in a blend of English, Italian, and Sicilian. The production was performed completely free of charge for the Sicilian public in five touring locations in the region of Messina: Piazza San Nicola in the village of Pezzolo; the Museum of Sicilian Clothing & Fashion in the town of Mirto; the Church of St. Stefano in the village of Santo Stefano Briga; the Istituto San Placido Calonerò; and the Castle Rufo Ruffo in Scaletta Zanclea. The production also toured to INTAR Theatre in New York City, The Watertown Sons of Italy in Watertown, MA, Langone Park in Boston’s North End, and St. John’s Episcopal Church in Gloucester, MA.

In 2018, founding company members hosted the first ever Trinacria Arts Festival: five days of free, participatory events in Pezzolo blending professional and community arts projects. Over the course of the event, Trinacria hosted workshops, storytelling circles, and a solo exhibit by an emerging photographer. The company participated in collaborations with local theatre artists and groups, resulting in “Theatre Sparks,” and evening of short performances and works-in-progress. This was also the debut of Trinacria’s original devised short, A Ghost Story, inspired by the Pezzolo community.

The Trinacria Arts Festival continued in 2019 with three-weeks of activities in conjunction with the third Sicilian Summer Residency, attended by six new and returning theatre artists. During this time, the company also developed a workshop performance of its latest production, The Hades & Persephone Project. This was performed at sunset on August 4th, 2019 at the Villa Melania Cultural RE-Factory as the finale event of their debut season. In October 2019, Artistic Director Mariagrazia La Fauci and Executive Director Elena Kritter were invited to present at SETC’s National Conference on Outdoor Theatre in Santa Fe, supported by a grant from the Paul Green Foundation.

Development on The Hades & Persephone Project has continued with a company of London-based collaborators. Trinacria received a National Lottery Project Grant from Arts Council England to support an R&D of The Hades & Persephone Project with public workshop performances taking place at the Drayton Arms Theatre in London (postponed due to COVID-19). Encore touring performances of La Storia di Colapesce were planned for the New England area in June 2020, but have been postponed to 2021. Trinacria Theatre Company will also host the first Open Creative Residency in Pezzolo, Sicily from July 26 - August 16, 2021, featuring the works of four international artists-in-residence which will be presented to the public during the third edition of the Trinacria Arts Festival, August 11 – 13, 2021.

Trinacria Theatre Company LTD. is a tax-exempt non-profit under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

For more information please visit www.trinacriatheatre.com or follow the company on Facebook (www.facebook.com/trinacriatheatr) or instagram (@trinacriatheatr).

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