Playing with Orlando

An original ballad in Ariosto-like rhyme and a literary dispute for the stage, performed by Stefano Accorsi and Marco Baliani in hand-to-hand combat, one rhyme following another. The central issue is love – whether it’s reciprocal or not, forsaken or not – with two couples: Orlando and Angelica, and Bradamante and Ruggiero.

Giocando con Orlando surprises the audience, who is first taken to a playing field, a carousel, and a hellzapoppin circus, only to find themselves suddenly faced with something ancient: feelings. The audience has just enough time to feel them and sense something resembling nostalgia, before they are dragged onto the roller-coaster of a flying hippogriff and a roaring killer whale.

Yet thanks to this game, to this playful theatrical joy, there are moments when love’s passion – distilled and heartbreaking – will appear in its entirety, along with the strength of friendship in a touching moment of brotherhood, and jealousy’s fury, in a destructive exercise.