“Non-School” Program at La Scuola d’Italia

Teatro delle Albe is one of the most important theater companies in Italy and abroad. Founded in 1983 in Ravenna by Marco Martinelli and Ermanna Montanari, it became a leading institution in its field, combining the principles of classical theater with innovative forms of artistic expression. During the months of January and February, the company will be performing its show Rumore di Acque (Noise in the Waters) in New York and elsewhere the US.


Teatro delle Albe’s enormous success is due not only to its performances but also to its original “non-school” educational program, based on creative theater workshops

for students of different educational backgrounds. “Non-School” means doing theater together, and comes from the idea that acting cannot be taught, but it is a game we all play together, actors and audience. While in New York, Teatro delle Albe is staging a series of events involving middle, high school and college students, with the special participation of students from La Scuola d’Italia Guglielmo Marconi of New York. Founded in 1977 by the Italian Ministry

of Foreign Affairs, La Scuola d’Italia is a unique institution that provides a bilingual education rooted in both Italian and American curricula.


Since its inception, the school has been committed to integrating its students in a multicultural environment fostering international education through an intense academic program including both classical and scientific studies. Besides its challenging curricular activities, La Scuola d’Italia also offers its students a wide range of extracurricular activities in collaboration with several cultural institutions all over the world. “Teatro delle Albe, and Marco Martinelli in particular, had the great idea to create a theater for children. Every year, students participate in these theater workshops with the so called non-school that have become very popular abroad,” explains Anna Fiore, Preside of La Scuola d’Italia. “I have been collaborating with Teatro delle Albe for more than 10 years. This year we wanted to be part of the project in occasion of the show that Teatro delle Albe is putting on at the La MaMa Experimental Theater of New York,” says Fiore.


In fact, along with the performance of Rumore di Acque at the MaMa, the project has also planned theater workshops that involve the students of La Scuola d’Italia. Students will perform Mayakovsky’s Heresy of Happiness on February 11 at 6pm. “Grosups of students will perform the text in a very creative way,” says Ms. Fiore. “We will also include some literature about immigration and poems from Robert Viscusi’s Ellis Island in order to establish a connection between Rumore di Acque and the workshops for children and teenagers.”* Along with La Scuola D’Italia, students from the UNIS School, the Corpus Christi Catholic School, and Montclair State University will participate in the special event in collaboration with IACE.   


* Our video reportage on this event is coming soon on i-ItalyTV. Stay tuned!