Ossario hosts Pretesti. A Voce Alta — the new name of Cabarextra Voltaire — for the first event in a new collaboration at Ponte Uovo Studio.

Bianca Tortato, together with Virginia Vanocchi, will present her new text Il Paese in cui Dio mi ha offerto un’albicocca (The Country Where God Offered Me an Apricot).

The presentation will be followed by a conversation with Bianca Tortato and Virginia Vanocchi, together with Laura Canella and Martina Alessia Parri of Pretesti. A Voce Alta and Valentina Rignano of Ossario, to delve into the themes of the text and explore them together.

The staged reading transports us into the surreal and quiet atmosphere of a small village in the mountains of Friuli, where Bianca meets Emmanuel, a man who has arrived from Paris and who deeply believes in God.

A dialogue unfolds between them about faith, the need to find answers, and the necessity of believing even when reality seems to offer none. Through memories, extraterrestrials, coincidences and apricots, the need to find meaning continually comes up against the fear of truly believing.

“And what happens if you’re wrong?”

The question, together with the sound of church bells, marks the rhythm of their encounter. Emmanuel is convinced that every event is part of a larger design; Bianca, by contrast, oscillates between disbelief, fear and the desire to put her trust in something.

Through irony, unease and moments of intimacy, the boundary between experience, faith and imagination becomes increasingly blurred, leaving open a possibility as compelling as it is frightening: believing in the impossible.

Pretesti. A Voce Alta is a project by Radio Exalge: a live-recorded podcast dedicated to contemporary writing by women playwrights. It creates a space for listening, exchange and creative freedom, where the written text finds a voice and becomes a performative and political practice.

The project grew out of a desire to bring renewed attention to dramatic writing and restore its sonic and performative dimension: a pretext for speaking uncomfortable truths out loud, exposing conflicts, expressing experiences and engaging with the themes explored by women playwrights today; but also for building a community around theatrical writing and developing a dialogue that extends beyond both the stage and the text itself.

The podcast is hosted by Laura Canella and Martina Alessia Parri.

Listen and take part in person, or follow the podcast on Radio Exalge at this link.

Instagram @pretesti.avocealta