Back again this year is the appointment with "Alceste's Garden," the literary review inaugurated last year by the municipality of Figline and Incisa Valdarno for the purpose of addressing some issues of collective interest by resorting to literature. This is done by offering a series of readings spread over five meetings, which will be held throughout the municipality starting from the hamlets.
The subtitle of the 2016 edition is "Labor. From Roots to Wings" and will be a reflection on the theme of labor to be addressed in several stages, taking into account the historical changes and social transformations that have occurred over time. Among this year's new features is the musical accompaniment to the readings, which will be performed in stage form by two local cultural associations (the company I Folli and Cantiere Artaud) in collaboration with as many local singer-songwriters (Simone Baldini Tosi and Arlo Bigazzi). This is a format already experimented with the same subjects during the first edition of the theater review "Libernarrando," which took place from February to May at the Garibaldi Theater in Figline.
Returning to "Alceste's Garden," events will start on June 30 from the Circolo Arci in Incisa (Piazza Santa Lucia, 9:15 p.m.), with a staged reading by the I Folli company with music by Simone Baldini Tosi. The book chosen for the opening night is "Precarious Characters" by Vanni Santoni, which addresses the theme of precariousness not only from an economic-legal perspective but also and above all as an existential and psychological category. The second meeting with the Fools - in collaboration with the Circolo Arci of Gaville and the Parish of San Romolo in Gaville - is dated July 14, when they will stage "Our Lives Without Yesterday" by Edoardo Nesi: a book that, taking its starting point from a textile company on the brink of bankruptcy, analyzes the performance of the economy in recent years and launches a practical proposal for overcoming the current crisis. The meeting will be held in the cloister of the Pieve di Gaville starting at 9:15 p.m., again with musical accompaniment by Simone Baldini Tosi. It will also be repeated on July 21, in Ponte agli Stolli, where a staged reading of the novel "Il capo fabbrica" by Romano Bilenchi is scheduled: 8 short stories that, starting from the life of a young worker, help to grasp the changes related to the transition from rural to industrial society. This event, held in collaboration with the Circolo Arci in Ponte agli Stolli, is also set for 9:15 p.m.
On July 28, however, we will move to Poggio alla Croce, for a staged reading of Paolo Volponi's "The Flies of Capital," which, drawing from its author's autobiographical experience, recounts Italian industry in the early 1980s. Performing to musical accompaniment by Arlo Bigazzi, at 9:15 p.m., will be the Cantiere Artaud company, in collaboration with the Poggio alla Croce SMS Circle. Finally, it will be the same company to close the cultural review, on August 3, again with music by Arlo Bigazzi and in collaboration with the Circolo Arci of Palazzolo. The appointment is set right on the premises of the Circolo Arci in Palazzolo, at 9:15 p.m., for a reading of "Lavoro da morire." This is a work written by 11 different authors, including Andrea Bajani, Dacia Maraini and Michela Murgia, grappling with the narration of the complexities of today's world of work, starting with precariousness and moving on to unemployment and white deaths. Admission to all five evenings is free. There will also be light refreshments at the conclusion of each staged reading.
"After last year's experimental edition, which featured 20th-century Valdarno literature," explains Culture Councillor Mattia Chiosi, "we decided to focus on the theme of work, analyzing various aspects of it. We started, therefore, by proposing readings related to a nineteenth- and twentieth-century conception, and then arrived at more current shades of meaning. In addition, we have added one more date than the four of the past edition, all of which will take place in places that have always been important gathering points for the city. Finally, we have chosen to involve the cultural associations I Folli and Cantiere Artaud, so as to replicate the format of the staged readings set to music already experimented with great success in recent months, on the occasion of the launch of the Libernarrando review."