All good stuff as usual. You won't know of course, that I have written many a play, all before I moved here. One of them is called WopSong: Tune and Echo, which has both Italian and English speaking characters (the Italian translated from my English into Italian by my son in law). The play covers four generations but in reverse chronology - the modern American Italians who are detached from their Italian roots, back through time to the impoverished hill town from which the first emigrants departed for America. The first and last scenes take place in the piazza of that town - the sindico, the priest, the cafe owner and others have to deal with a failing, middle aged rock star who is trying to revive his career by doing an acoustic song in the place where his great great grandfather lived. They all break out into a lively tarantello at the end.
Love the idea of starting a theater company-- would love to see one of the productions! Am I correct that you're based in Perugia? That's not far from our place in Marche. Will be watching Italicus for more updates! Your bravery in attempting translation overwhelms me. I've really been working on my Italian, but I can't even contemplate the difficulty of translating....
It’d be great if you could come! The first performance is November 16, 5:30pm, in the historic center of Perugia. Let me know if you want more info. And thanks!
Hi!! Nice to meet you! I really enjoyed your post, your writing, your situation. We have lots in common. I too live in Italy, love it, am melting in the heat, hating the insects and bureaucracy but loving the people. I am in Piemonte, wine country. Rough, right?? :)). Drop me a line sometime. We can compare notes and insects. I am at boyleb.substack.com. And barbaraboyleauthor.com. Piacere!!! Barbara
Piacere, Barbara! Thanks for connecting; I’ll check out your Substack. Piemonte is a largely unexplored area for me (except for Domodossola), so maybe we’ll connect in person one day. A dopo!
Cheryl, I hope to one day see a dystopian comedy screenplay written by you about the administrative ordeal of expats in Italy, as a contrast to the romanticized idea of moving to Italy, à la Under the Tuscan Sun and similar stories. It would be tragically hilarious! 😁
It's such a pity I don't live in Perugia but only visit sporadically—my in-laws live there—because I would have definitely loved to join the theatre company!
Natasha, that’s brilliant! Who knows, maybe one of these days … Let me know next time you’re coming to Perugia! Are you elsewhere in Italy or in another country?
I think someone needs to show the full picture 😁 I live in Milan, and yes, let’s try to meet for a coffee when I visit Perugia next time. It will be a huge pleasure for me, Cheryl 💛
So many good things in this post: your creative work and the unicorn you found in commune to get you the required form (fast and free).
I had to look up the etymology of mannaggia. Wikipedia said it's from Neapolitan dialect and:
Etymologymal(e) (“bad, evil”) + n' (“of it”) + aggia (third-person singular subjunctive of avé (“to have”)). Literally “may he/she/it have bad things from it!”.
Re: porca miseria and porca vacca. My Brescian relative says porco cane too.
Thanks, Tim. That is NOT good news about your ongoing battle; I hope it’s over soon, and favorably, and that you two can get back over here. In bocca al lupo!
Wonderful poem!! And congratulations on the acceptance. Fingers crossed for the print anthology!
Congratulations as well on getting the document. Yikes, what a nightmare and indeed, what a saint.
Now, the theater company... What a huge undertaking! And how fun! Congratulations on that as well. Glad to hear you had a refreshing (if also scalding) Ferragosto!
Thanks for reading the poem, Jan, and I’m very glad you liked it. I hope the theater company doesn’t turn out to be too huge an undertaking; the idea is just to have a bit of fun. I’ve got too much else going on to saddle myself with a full-time job! But I’m looking forward to our first rehearsals!
So inspiring that you started the theater group. I love that! I hope someday to be skilled enough at the Italian language to be able to do some translating, even minimally. What a great creative stretch for the brain.
It really is a whole new way of looking at language! I’m curious to see how the theater group goes—the idea is just to have fun and bring something to the community.
All good stuff as usual. You won't know of course, that I have written many a play, all before I moved here. One of them is called WopSong: Tune and Echo, which has both Italian and English speaking characters (the Italian translated from my English into Italian by my son in law). The play covers four generations but in reverse chronology - the modern American Italians who are detached from their Italian roots, back through time to the impoverished hill town from which the first emigrants departed for America. The first and last scenes take place in the piazza of that town - the sindico, the priest, the cafe owner and others have to deal with a failing, middle aged rock star who is trying to revive his career by doing an acoustic song in the place where his great great grandfather lived. They all break out into a lively tarantello at the end.
Thanks, Vian. The play sounds like good fun!
That sounds amazing.
When it gets performed, please record a YT so we can all watch it.
Love the idea of starting a theater company-- would love to see one of the productions! Am I correct that you're based in Perugia? That's not far from our place in Marche. Will be watching Italicus for more updates! Your bravery in attempting translation overwhelms me. I've really been working on my Italian, but I can't even contemplate the difficulty of translating....
It’d be great if you could come! The first performance is November 16, 5:30pm, in the historic center of Perugia. Let me know if you want more info. And thanks!
Hi!! Nice to meet you! I really enjoyed your post, your writing, your situation. We have lots in common. I too live in Italy, love it, am melting in the heat, hating the insects and bureaucracy but loving the people. I am in Piemonte, wine country. Rough, right?? :)). Drop me a line sometime. We can compare notes and insects. I am at boyleb.substack.com. And barbaraboyleauthor.com. Piacere!!! Barbara
Piacere, Barbara! Thanks for connecting; I’ll check out your Substack. Piemonte is a largely unexplored area for me (except for Domodossola), so maybe we’ll connect in person one day. A dopo!
Cheryl, I hope to one day see a dystopian comedy screenplay written by you about the administrative ordeal of expats in Italy, as a contrast to the romanticized idea of moving to Italy, à la Under the Tuscan Sun and similar stories. It would be tragically hilarious! 😁
It's such a pity I don't live in Perugia but only visit sporadically—my in-laws live there—because I would have definitely loved to join the theatre company!
Natasha, that’s brilliant! Who knows, maybe one of these days … Let me know next time you’re coming to Perugia! Are you elsewhere in Italy or in another country?
I think someone needs to show the full picture 😁 I live in Milan, and yes, let’s try to meet for a coffee when I visit Perugia next time. It will be a huge pleasure for me, Cheryl 💛
And I'll let you know next time I'll be in Milan. I'll look forward to meeting you!
So many good things in this post: your creative work and the unicorn you found in commune to get you the required form (fast and free).
I had to look up the etymology of mannaggia. Wikipedia said it's from Neapolitan dialect and:
Etymologymal(e) (“bad, evil”) + n' (“of it”) + aggia (third-person singular subjunctive of avé (“to have”)). Literally “may he/she/it have bad things from it!”.
Re: porca miseria and porca vacca. My Brescian relative says porco cane too.
Thanks for the etymology lesson, I love it!
Congrats on all your accomplishments and successes! They came in a flurry! Still fighting the citizenship fight here too. Missing Italy
Thanks, Tim. That is NOT good news about your ongoing battle; I hope it’s over soon, and favorably, and that you two can get back over here. In bocca al lupo!
Wonderful poem!! And congratulations on the acceptance. Fingers crossed for the print anthology!
Congratulations as well on getting the document. Yikes, what a nightmare and indeed, what a saint.
Now, the theater company... What a huge undertaking! And how fun! Congratulations on that as well. Glad to hear you had a refreshing (if also scalding) Ferragosto!
Thanks for reading the poem, Jan, and I’m very glad you liked it. I hope the theater company doesn’t turn out to be too huge an undertaking; the idea is just to have a bit of fun. I’ve got too much else going on to saddle myself with a full-time job! But I’m looking forward to our first rehearsals!
haha, I always knew Mannaggia was ok because my grandmother said it all the time! I was hoping you were going to parse what it actually meant...
I’m surprised my parents never said it—though most of what I heard as a kid were insults in dialect, delivered with good spirits and enthusiasm. :-)
So inspiring that you started the theater group. I love that! I hope someday to be skilled enough at the Italian language to be able to do some translating, even minimally. What a great creative stretch for the brain.
It really is a whole new way of looking at language! I’m curious to see how the theater group goes—the idea is just to have fun and bring something to the community.
It really seems like a wonderful idea!