Nel segno di Gemelli

CATANZARO – FEBRUARY 2, 2026. There is a language that is not studied in books and not learned in school, but one that grows within you, alongside your voice, your affections, and your wounds. It is the dialect. Not a “minor” language, but a deeper language, capable of expressing what Italian often softens or conceals. In Catanzaro, the dialect is identity, memory, and a perspective on the world. And it comes back to life, with strength and courage, on stage.

On Wednesday, February 4, at the Cinema Teatro Comunale, Teatro Incanto inaugurates “In the Sign of Gemelli – Second Act” with a comedy that is much more than a show: ’A vucca è na ricchizza, by Nino Gemelli.

Written at the end of the 1970s, this work was already ahead of its time then. Not because it sought scandal, but because it dared to speak the truth. It tells the story of Anna, a sixteen-year-old girl who chooses silence in a world that talks too much, judges too much, and condemns too quickly. Around her is a family struggling to understand, a society that points fingers, and a priest who embodies the institution more than genuine listening. And then there is the Pensabene family, a name that is a manifesto in itself: in Gemelli's theater, names are never casual; they tell of characters, boundaries, and contradictions.

In this choir of judging voices, don Bobò emerges, a luminous and disarming figure, who chooses acceptance over judgment, dignity over loud morality. It is from here that the story finds its light: a light that does not absolve everything but understands and crosses through pain.

“The Catanzaro dialect – explains artistic director Francesco Passafaro – is the pulsating soul of this comedy. It is not folklore, nor is it local color placed there to elicit an easy laugh. It is a powerful narrative tool. In the dialect, words carry more weight; they come through directly, without filters. ’A vucca, the mouth, truly becomes na ricchizza: because to speak, to name things, to give them an authentic sound means to restore dignity to people and to stories.”

There is laughter, yes. Smiles often arise. But above all, there is reflection: on morality that turns into hypocrisy, on love confused with control, on respect that comes from listening, not from judgment. Dialectal theater thus tells a community about itself, without concessions but with affection.

The evening also includes a game about the dialect and the city, transforming the show into a moment of shared memory and a passing of the baton between generations.

On Wednesday, February 4, at 8:45 PM, the curtain will rise. And with it, an ancient and yet highly relevant voice.