This year we are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Unification of Italy, and as part of these celebrations I recently went to the Teatro della Rosa here in Pontremoli to watch "I Promessi Sposi alla Prova", a play based on the famous Italian novel "I Promessi Sposi" (‘The Betrothed’).

There are several reasons why this work of art is well suited to the celebrations of Italy’s unification. The first is that "I Promessi Sposi" was written by Alessandro Manzoni between 1827 and 1842 during the Independence Wars, and that, although he was born in Milano, he elected to write it in the Florentine dialect, chosen by many scholars all over the peninsula as the lingua franca of the future Italian nation. For this reason in 1827 Manzoni went to Firenze "a lavare i panni in Arno" (to do his washing in the River Arno), as he said, that is, to purge the text of any non Florentine expressions, and to authenticate the language used in his book.

The second reason lies in the story itself. At the time in which Manzoni was writing Milano, and in fact the whole of Lombardy, were under Austrian dominion. Therefore, in order to avoid censorship, the author decided to set his story a couple of centuries beforehand, in the period 1628-1630, when Milano was under Spanish dominion, thereby symbolizing the then current foreign oppression.

The play that I went to watch, written by Giovanni Testori, is entitled "I Promessi Sposi alla Prova" (‘The Betrothed on Rehearsal’). It portrays a company of actors che stanno provando I Promessi Sposi di Alessandro Manzoni (who are rehearsing The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni). So one moment we are following the actors as they are discussing parts of the script, and a moment later we are following the actual story as it unfolds in the novel. One moment we are observing the various characters of ‘I Promessi Sposi’ with all their troubles and their distinct personalities: the naive Renzo, the pious Lucia, the arrogant Don Rodrigo, the cowardly Don Abbondio, the gossipy Perpetua, etc., and a moment later we are watching the actors playing ‘themselves’. We get to know the ‘prima donna’, we are aware of the jealousy between the actresses, we observe the young eager actor still awkward in his movements, and the exhibitionist who can’t wait for his turn.

After a few minutes of disconcertment, we (the audience) were drawn into the play which, despite all the swapping of roles, lost nothing of the original story. The skill of the actors was such that a very simple set design, a table and a few chairs, was sufficient to suggest the various locations portrayed in the novel. We all thoroughly enjoyed two hours of great theatre.

If you are not familiar with the complicated story of I Promessi Sposi, have a look at this synopsis: I Promessi Sposi by Manzoni