Babilonia Teatri's 'Padre nostro' at Bmotion Festival

At the Bmotion festival in Bassano del Grappa, Babilonia Teatri presented 'Padre nostro', a performance that strips back their previous excesses to focus on tautology, waste, and empathy. The company, known for blending music and word, here reduces redundancy and eliminates mannerisms. The piece features real-life father Maurizio Bercini and his children Olga and Zeno, exploring paternity and filiation through a blurring of fiction and reality. Directors Valeria Raimondi and Enrico Castellani work on the ambivalent space between life and theater, between real and stereotypical family. The theme is responsible, conscious paternity. The performance presents raw reality but also fairy-tale elements (Hansel and Gretel) and painterly references (a Caravaggesque Saint Andrew). Objects like a church candlestick, a trophy cup, and a struggling dog serve as fragile metonymies. The dramaturgical material is less rich than in previous works, with transitional leftovers from earlier productions. Anti-clericalism and critiques of Veneto hypocrisy surface. The stage becomes a dissection table where children vivisect their father's body, a role reversal destined to be infinite. The audience must anchor orphaned images to their own experience. The show was less attended than previous Babilonia outings.