In an increasingly inclusive world, every form of art can become accessible even to those with sensory limitations. Therefore the theatre, where the word is at the center of the scene, can be adapted to suit those who cannot hear. For years, comic, dramatic and even musical performances have been staged, developed in harmony with one’s own language and culture with a view to integration and collaboration with hearing people.
But a real festival acquires exceptional value: after 7 years the event returns National Festival of the Theater of the Deaf (FNTS), which will take place in Verona on 8 and 9 November at the Teatro Ristori, the second time in northern Italy, after that of Salsomaggiore (PR) in 2001. The FNTS was born in 1997 in Trieste and reached its eighth edition this year. The idea of proposing the VIII Edition of the Teatro del Sordo in Verona was born from the success of previous editions and from the desire to give space to deaf artists, who for various reasons, mostly prejudicial, do not have many stages on which to express themselves. A festival where the deaf are the actors and the audience, where everything, not just the shows, are accessible, thanks to subtitling and interpreting services in LIS.
During the two days of the Festival they will be able to be seen on the Ristori stage the most varied artistic forms entirely in Sign Language (accessible to those who do not know LIS through the stage booklets): from classical theater to poetry, from comedy sketches to the Visual Vernacular all seasoned with important guests and the presenter, as well as famous deaf poet, Rosaria Giuranna. A two-day event which, in line with the provisions of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, will bring out the benefit that the deaf community can give to society as a whole from the perspective of added value and not lack. The people who participate will be able to immerse themselves in a world made up of bodily expressions, of looks, of moving hands which, although not directly comprehensible for those who do not know Lis (at least for the purely performative and artistic part) will be able to excite and allow a total immersion in another perspective on deafness. It should be noted that the LIS interpreting service and subtitling will be present during the inauguration moments and in the transitions between one artistic performance and another which will instead be rendered in their original form without other interference.
All this will be possible thanks to the presence of important sponsors such as the RANA Family Foundation, AGSM Spa, Ditta Zanolli Spa, Tourismando srl and MOONDY TRAVEL. The patronage of the Veneto Region, the Province of Verona and the Municipality of Verona bring even more value to this event which through ART allows us to be all-round citizens and a significant representation of the Italian cultural heritage, a reality, ours, not only territorial but National, which with a peculiar expressive language manages to become a “voice” to be “heard” in its message of inclusion as part of the large family in the world of associations.
THEPresident of the ENS Provincial Section (The National Agency for the Protection and Assistance of the Deaf) of Verona Pierluigi Corbellari cThis is how he comments on this event: «For us it represents a great emotion and a great honor to organize this important event for the first time in Verona, in Veneto. This demonstration of trust on the part of the National Presidency and the Board of Directors of the National Deaf Organization in having supported and accepted our candidacy is certainly a source of pride.”
The President of the ENS Veneto Regional Council Dr. Emanuele Arzà vwho, right from the start, made all the internal forces available to the Council such as its own members and asked for support from the CGSI (Deaf Youth Committee of Veneto) and the Multimedia staff of Veneto, proudly believes that: «despite the difficulties of organize an event of this magnitude, the spirit of union that has seen everyone collaborate side by side is none other than the same spirit that has seen, throughout history, Veneto promote associative events of high symbolic and cultural value”.
