ZONE FRANCA is the territory where live madness as an act of freedom. A place where be transported into a free and imaginary world, but with the depth of a difficult and uncertain life, of Franca, the protagonist of the show. Franca, convinced of having to face an emergency on a global scale, will do everything possible to save everyone, through a direct dialogue with the public, telling “stories of ordinary madness” playing with the fun and drama of everyday life.
The crisis declared by Franca is nothing more than a human crisis, which has its origins in selfishness, in fear and in the removal of everything that is different but thanks to her authentic and profound look, through gags and hilarious stories, expressing with the magical lyricism of simplicity, Franca will keep us high and make us reflect on the role that love and people have in our life.
“ZONE FRANCA is living madness as an act of freedom”
With and by Federica Mafucci
Direction Andrè Casaca
Production Teatro C’art Comic Education
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2020 Crashtest Contemporary Theater Festival – Valdagno
Course of research
The actor’s work is at the center of the creation process of the Zone Franca show. With the director André Casaca we set up a work in which it was Franca’s own character who was guided by the director during the improvisations. During the creation Franca told events, anecdotes and personal stories on stage, taking inspiration from the life, from the gestures, from the character of Anna, the woman who was the inspiration for the construction of the character; the search for information on Anna’s life took place through interviews conducted with people close to her and her dear ones. It was the same urgency to live that Anna had that fueled the work, trying to enhance both the dramatic aspect and the sense of crazy freedom that pervaded her life. Franca’s gestures are closely linked to the emotional past as well as the voice that hides the drama of a turbulent and dark life with which to deal with. It is a work based on physical theater, and in the comic identity of the body, a theatrical technique developed by director André Casaca on the use of the body in relation to comedy. The dramaturgy of the show therefore naturally takes shape from the improvisations of the character on stage. Hence the director’s choice to carry out an inverse process, that is to start not from the artistic concept but from the theatrical practice so that the same themes addressed are not pre-established but discovered during the full phase of creation.
Duration 60 minutes
Show suitable for ages 6 and up
Technique: physical theater, clown, music
