Dante Alighieri Society Presents “Natale in Casa Cupiello”

Nov 10, 2019 1034

BY: Sandra Tornberg

The Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan is always striving to develop new programs to inspire, educate and engage the community. Please join us on December 17, 2019 at The Village Players of Birmingham for the performance of “The Nativity Scene” (Natale in Casa Cupiello) by Eduardo De Filippo.

The cast is formed by a wonderful group of volunteers committed to dedicate their free time to make this event fun and exciting. The translation of the play into English was done by Wayne State University “Italian 6700 –Performing Italy” students led by Prof. Elena Past. 

This event was organized by the Dante Alighieri Society of Michigan in collaboration with the N.O.I. Foundation (Nuovi Orizzonti Italiani) in conjunction with the XIX Week of Italian Language in the World “L’italiano sul palcoscenico”, under the auspices of the Consulate of Italy in Detroit.

“Natale in Casa Cupiello”, a play written by the great Eduardo De Filippo in 1931, is part of Italy’s Christmas tradition. In Naples, Luca Cupiello and his wife Concetta, try to get ready for Christmas while their children Ninuccia and Tommasino complicate the preparations. Ninuccia is in love with Tommasino’s best friend Vittorio and wants to leave her husband Nicolino. The plot develops around Christmas Eve dinner and the story precipitates when Nicolino understands his wife’s intentions. Luca has a stroke caused by the stress and until is last breath tries to save her daughter’s marriage and to convince his son Tommasino about the importance of the Christmas tradition of the Presepe. Luca is preparing the Presepe, explaining this art to his son Tommasino: each ”pastore” has its own place, there are the mountains, the small houses in the back to give depth to the scene, the shack where baby Jesus comes to life, and the real waterfall coming down from the mountains. Tommasino keeps repeating that he does not like the Presepe and his dad gets seriously offended. After various attempts to change his mind, Luca troughs him out of the house, saying that there is no place for someone who does not like the Presepe in his house…”

The play will take place on December 17, 2019 at 6:30 pm at The Village Players in Birmingham, Michigan. Your support will be greatly appreciated. All funds will be used to pay expenses, finance DAS free cultural activities, and support Italian language classes in the Public Schools within the jurisdiction of the Consulate of Italy in Detroit.

You may be interested