Fausto Paravidino’s I Vicini

In the matter of just 30 minutes, the talented actors Fausto Paravidino, Iris Fusetti, Christina Toth, and Marco Calvani managed to grab the audience’s attention at the Italian Cultural Institute in NYC and get them involved in the strange, yet funny, story of two sets of neighbors. 

Fausto Paravidino at the Italian Cultural Institute in NYC

All of the actors with Valeria Orani, the artistic director of Umanism NY

I Vicini with Fausto Paravidino and Iris Fusetti

In the scenes that were reenacted, serious themes of religion and marriage were often interrupted with comedic dialogue about trivialities and the technicalities of language. A man, played by Paravidino, has trouble believing the things his longtime girlfriend says because she often seems uncertain of the words she chooses. He cannot decide whether she is giving him a reason to be fearful or whether he is just paranoid of a fear that stems from within himself. Upon the arrival of the new young married couple next door, all of these doubts rise to the surface and become exposed.

The work that Paravidino is aiming to do is much different than any other playwright. Starting in the beginning of November, Paravidino’s writing process will be tested out by other actors and artists over the course of a workshop following a concept he calls a concept he calls "international theater" for his upcoming work Looking for Abraham. He explains how according to the Bible, referring to Genesis 11:7, all of humanity was once able to understand each other because they were united under just one common language. That is until God decided it would be best to intervene and confuse their language so that the people could no longer understand one another, thus revealing how languages were born. Paravidino says that Abraham is the inspiration for this workshop because he is a figure that appears in all the sacred religious texts of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. He wants others to put their say in his writing, he wants it to be a group effort that brings people together, a work of art that everyone can relate to and make a contribution to. The workshop starts in New York but it will make it’s way to other countries such as Italy, France, and Switzerland. This is Paravidino’s way of writing an international theater show with the hopes of symbolically inventing a new language that reunites us all once again. 

Paravidino has taken part in the Segal’s Center and Umanism NY’s Italian Playwrights Project, created and developed by Valeria Orani and Frank Hentschker, which aims to “raise awareness of contemporary Italian writing for the stage in the Americas and to foster the development of collaborative relationships between playwrights from Italy and American theater artists.” So if you are interested in an innovative approach to theater and playwriting, be sure to keep an eye out for Paravidino’s collective workshop coming up soon.