“A fantastic Neapolitan revelation of reality versus resistance: this bite-size play shows the human cost of contemporary personal introspection through an intimate Italian lens. “
Scaleno is the Italian word for scalene, a geometric term referring to the three uneven sides of a triangle, each one different lengths but merging together to form the whole. Writer and performer Antonella Fittipaldi takes us through the four decades of her life as she navigates her resistance to be true to herself.
There are three sides vying for Antonella’s attention- her past, present and future. Her past is represented by Naples- her mother, her grandma, her trauma. Her future is England- hope is advocated through her longing to be in the place that first truly accepted her and her art. Her present is Italy. This is the place she struggles to exist in and the play takes the form of a dialogue between her Italian and Neapolitan duality combined with an English inner AI device that processes her emotional outbursts and reduces them to clinical assessments from which she cannot hide.
It is a wonderfully compelling piece of theatre, performed so freely by Fittipaldi. Rosella Cabiddu’s direction is restrained in production design: a simple multi-coloured stand with the AI machine- the English side. The other side has a small shrine to Napoli football legend Diego Maradona on an old fashioned tablecloth next to an old fashioned chair- this is the Neapolitan side. In the middle remains Antonella. She demonstrates a strong performance with nuanced cadence, rhythm, pacing and emotion all vying for our attentions as we flick to the (often out of sync) surtitles behind her. Her switch between languages is fluid, the personas between them becoming increasingly agitated and raw; her psyche becoming a malleable depiction of her inner turmoil.
Occasionally the constant weird beeping of every AI notification gets grating, and the volume of the device is too loud. The spectacle is often abstract; more of a stream of consciousness fed through the lens of philosophy rather than a linear narrative- perhaps a more structured narrative may help audiences fully immerse themselves against any language barrier. Whilst there are many inferences to her history, they are often skirted over in favour of the next outburst. For instance her anecdote about a discussion with an English tourist stall seller lent itself well to a humorous detour that ultimately went nowhere. The musical choices she uses to listen to as she evades facing her present are also vague in terms of any connection- are they just her favourite songs?
Her mind, body and soul become the three sides of the triangle which ultimately manifests in her own body becoming a piece of site-specific theatre. The themes are universal, to be sure- family, trauma, abuse, identity, hope. The presentation is unmistakably Neapolitan and unmistakably hers. The testimony of a single Italian woman that is able to use a lifetime of introspection and present it as a compelling dramatic exposition.
In a society which treats accents and dialects as a comedy punchline to denote poverty or stupidity, Scaleno brings Neapolitan dialect to the forefront of a British theatre scene that knows painfully little about it. It takes a regional identity and treats it as an equal to anything Italian or British. Fittipaldi’s 50-minute reenactment of a memoir is as compelling as Cabiddu’s direction of it. Naturally, it is more immersive if you understand Italian or Neapolitan cultural references and linguistics, however erudite writing and beautifully evocative metaphors take you on a whistle stop tour of Fittipaldi’s rage and reasoning.
Scaleno played at the Barons Court Theatre, London from 6th-7th November 2026 as part of the Voilá Festival.