ARECIBO

From February 5 to 8, 2026, the national premiere of ARECIBO will be held at the TeatroBasilica, a project of Fucina Zero, directed by Matteo Finamore with dramaturgy by Jacopo Angelini. On stage are Mario Berretta, Andrea Carriero, and Giulia Rossoni. The production is by lacasadargilla and Gruppo della Creta.

The show debuts in Rome after a preview at the IF Festival – Teatro India.

In 1974, from the giant radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, humanity sent a message into deep space to possible extraterrestrial life forms: an image in binary code, a self-portrait of humankind projected 25,000 light-years away. ARECIBO starts from that act of radical communication—without guarantee of being heard, without promise of a response—to question our hyperconnected present, saturated with signals yet poor in listening.

On stage, the three performers traverse eras, roles, and registers to narrate the construction and disintegration of a great technological and symbolic enterprise. Scientific data, historical fragments, and personal resonances intertwine in a theatrical device where sound is a central element of the scenic language.

The sound architecture by Giulia Menaspà, with the consultation of Pasquale Citera, entrusts the core of the action to a loop machine: it records, repeats, and transforms voices and sounds, creating a bridge between the sender and the receiver. In an essential scene, like the cosmos, the lighting design by Omar Scala and the costumes by Giulia Barcaroli come into play.

Thus, ARECIBO becomes the chronicle of an illusion and, at the same time, an open question:
If we can no longer listen to each other, what sense does it make to continue sending messages to the sky?
Web: www.teatrobasilica.com/