Sons of Buddha

At the heart of Hijos de Buddha, the latest work by Alessandro Rossetto (direction) and Nicolò Sordo (dramatization), pulses an essential question: is it possible for theater today to truly speak beyond the visible?

The answer is a hybrid and all-encompassing creation, where sound is the protagonist, the scene dissolves into the invisible, and spirituality is embodied in the rough matter of existence. And this matter, at times almost unlivable, is that of Rome: not the imperial postcard, but the dirty, exhausted, dazed one. The neighborhood is that of Termini station. A crossroads of cultures, solitude, and (dis)humanity. A Rome that swallows, that promises and subtracts. A Rome that vibrates with decadent beauty and daily horror.

The inspiration is a true story. Maria Sanchez Misericordia has not been kind to life, and life has not been kind to her. A caregiver, Buddhist, kleptomaniac, she desperately seeks love from anyone willing to offer it. She is Spanish, having arrived in Rome for reasons even she has forgotten. She exploits the beauty of GiraGira, a girl who came from deep Africa with a child, forcing her into prostitution for a residency permit that she cannot provide. Once the debt is paid off, GiraGira will change her name, obtain her documents, and Maria Sanchez will pay for her unhappiness at full price. In the meantime, a distant son returns and hates her, a husband missing for years reappears – dead – a surreal interrogation awaits her, she talks with Buddha… who responds. From realism to paroxysm, the leap is short: events follow one another like memories, in a pyrotechnic unfolding that tells of an uncompromising solitude.