Milan, August 7th, 2015
Today the PASSIONE DI SORDEVOLO, the biggest representation in Italy performed by a wide group of people, is on the pages of the New York Times International, while the same article was published on the US edition yesterday.
The authoritative newspaper has chosen to speak, in a long article signed by Elisabetta Povoledo, about one of the oldest and involving sacred performances, the one done in Sordevolo, a village in the province of Biella where live a few more than 1300 people.
The representation is unique of its kind as it’s a real performance professionally realized by 800 inhabitants at least, children included; the event is on for all summer and draws, in the amphitheatre built 10 years ago at this purpose, more or less 40 thousand members of the audience.
The representation we know nowadays was born 200 years ago, but it’s origin is farther older. A text of the Passion of Christ was played in the Colosseum in Rom between the end of the XIV century and the first part of the next one, by the Compagnia del Gonfalone. This rhymed text was written by the Florentine Giuliano Dati. Since 1815 it is performed in the little village in Piedmont.
On 2015 the event has started on June 6th and will be on up to September 27th. The complete plays calendar is on www.passionedicristo.org
Link to the New York Times article: http://
Here’re the number about the play:
-200 years of “Passione”
-400 amateur actors (42 speaking characters and 360 walking-on actors) aged from 5 to 80.
-300 people “behind the scene”
– 40 shows in 100 days, 3 of which entirely played by children
– 29 scenes constituting the more-than 2 hours long performance
– amphitheatre more than 4000 square meters wide
– 40.000 members of the audience.
