If You Don't Try To Fly You Can't Even Fall

By Rosario Stefanelli

One Act
Node is an ambivalent term, like chains, absence, risk, bond. Noemi lives the ambiguous meaning of these words daily and deeply in relation to her origins and her present. 
Chains. On the one hand they make her feel safe, immune from the risk of falling, on the other they hold her back, preventing her from being deeply herself
Absence. For Noemi it is a lack of someone or something stable, but also liberation from that someone
Risk. For her it is fear of losing what she has built up from her past, but it is also an opportunity to achieve something new
Bonding. It is the ancestral and also institutional affection for loved ones, but can represent a symbiotic union and blurred boundaries
Finally, Node. For Noemi, it is a shared feeling, which eases any pain, but also entangles one's own breathlessness

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rosario
• Release date: Dec 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9791222037615

Book preview

Single act

Characters

Noemi

Dario, Noemi’s husband

Carlotta, Noemi’s daughter

Geremia, assistant

SINGLE ACT

Environment. Single room. Bathroom on the left, double bed in the background and a sofa on the right. The centre of the scene is free of various furnishings. Noemi is sleeping in bed with her husband Dario. Next to Noemi, a woman pierces the darkness. She is on her back, naked, hair up. She grabs a vase, lifts it up and repeatedly hits her head. More than a trickle of blood becomes visible from the woman's head. The woman persists in her activity, until she smashes the clay ornament. Hundreds of notes spill out, covering the body until it is buried. With difficulty the woman manages to extract her mouth and eyes. She is breathing heavily. She is fatigued. Noemi also breathes with breathlessness. Then with disgust, spitting repeatedly, the woman from behind starts tearing up the banknotes, which as soon as they hit the ground they reassemble. She hastily picks them up and tears them into a thousand fluttering pieces. Satisfaction at so much effort wanes as she notices that the scraps of paper are once again coming together. The movement becomes continuous, somewhat anxious. All this is accompanied by the contortions of the sleeping one. By now fed up with the paper notes clinging together, she begins to devour them, while her body swells out of all proportion. The belly expands until it levitates. Flashes of numerous paintings by Caravaggio and Luca Giordano appear on the belly. On the ceiling is a spired chandelier. The stuffed soma touches the illuminated stalactite. The big bang wakes the sleeper up. The now deflated woman disappears, while Noemi wakes up in a sweat. She is rigid, touching her face and arms several times. Then suddenly she gets up

NOEMI There's Nikkey. Dario! Turn on the PC. There's the Nikkey. Dario! We need to connect

Noemi repeatedly touches her forehead and arms

NOEMI I'm here. It's me. No doubt. Damn Dario! The Nikkey! Turn it on, otherwise it won't go straight. They're watching us.

Noemi touches her legs and arms.

NOEMI Yes, there they are.

Then she puts a hand on her stomach

NOEMI Here it is

He runs to the toilet and sits on the toilet. He makes a big effort to stimulate his sphincter. After a few seconds, he relaxes

NOEMI Fucking hole

The woman renews her efforts

NOEMI And open! Let this shit out. Fucking sphincter give me a hand

Dario turns away

NOEMI Dario! Wake up. It's late. They'll be here soon to break our balls. Dario, the Nikkey. They will come

The man with extreme indolence wakes up. He yawns

NOEMI Come on!

DARIO But what do you want. No one will come and forget the Nikkey

NOEMI Let's make coffee. We'll wake up

DARIO Coffee! Never seen here

Noemi looks around

NOEMI Yeah. It's never been seen here. Good times when we used to enjoy a good coffee early in the morning

DARIO Put your feet on the ground. We stay here. And for that we have our daughter to thank

NOEMI I told you she's like us

DARIO Again with this idea

NOEMI But it's obvious

DARIO Not for me

NOEMI Hers is just a proclamation that she is different from us, but she behaves in the same way. It's useless for you to make that face

DARIO She's different I told you. And it's your fault too. You should not have encouraged her in her choice to be an artist. I don't understand how and why you could have derailed it

NOEMI Again with this story

DARIO Of course

NOEMI It's not what you say. It didn't influence you at all. It's there for all to see. If