The artist finances “Sogno di volare”, the theatre project of the local teenagers, and meets a group of them in the archaeological site
On the evening of Friday 16 August, her birthday, Madonna visited the archaeological area of Pompeii, where she met a group of teenagers and children participating in the project “Sogno di Volare”, promoted by the Archaeological Park with the aim of involving the local community in the cultural life of the UNESCO site.
As announced during the meeting, the artist has decided to support the project, which sees young people engaged in a creative journey that culminates in the staging of a classic comedy in the Teatro Grande of the ancient city, by financing the entire year 2024/25, the fourth since the initiative was launched, through his foundation “Ray of Light”.
What began a few weeks ago as a hypothesis for an evening visit has thus transformed into a partnership that places the future of the archaeological site and its “heritage community” at its centre.
The boys gave a small demonstration of their work when leaving the Menander house, visited together with the director of the site, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, who acted as guide.
The next stop was the house of the Ceii, famous for the large fresco in the garden with representations of exotic animals and idyllic-sacred landscapes, before arriving at the Teatro Grande, the setting for other artistic performances and a refreshment to conclude the itinerary.
“'Sogno di volare', the project so generously supported by Madonna, is strategic for Pompeii – declared the Director of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel – because it is aimed at the people who live in this wonderful and complex territory, especially young people, and makes them protagonists of an experience with which we wanted to demonstrate that art and culture can truly change our lives.
Of course, when we started out in 2021 amidst a thousand difficulties, I never would have imagined that we would get to this point, but evidently dreaming of flying really works: I heartily thank Madonna for her generosity, vision, and humanity, which will be a great source of inspiration as we move forward.
From Madonna the wings for Sogno di volare and for the kids who participate, a beautiful gift she gave us on her birthday. We invite you from now to the show that we will create thanks to her contribution and that will be staged in May 2025 at the Teatro Grande.”
“Sogno di Volare”, in the last three years, has involved about three hundred boys and girls from the Vesuvian area, where the risk of school dropout, unemployment and youth emigration is still felt, who have participated as actors, musicians and scriptwriters in the shows “Gli Uccelli”, “Acarnesi: Stop the War” and “Pluto: God of Gold”, rewritings from Aristophanes directed by Marco Martinelli, music: Ambrogio Sparagna, costumes: Roberta Mattera.
Conceived by Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the initiative brought together adolescents and children from Pompeii, Scafati, Castellammare di Stabia, Torre Annunziata, Torre del Greco, Boscoreale and Naples within a creative and artistic journey that also took them abroad: after the premiere at the Teatro Grande in Pompeii, a tour saw them on the stages of Bologna and Ravenna; a performance in Vicenza is scheduled for this autumn.
The text for the fourth year has not yet been chosen, although it will certainly be another comedy by Aristophanes, reworked by the kids themselves to give voice, in addition to the reality of the ancient world, to their experiences in a mix of classicism, contemporaneity and jokes in Neapolitan that have won over audiences in Pompeii, Bologna and Ravenna.
The first year of activity is told in the documentary “Sogno di Volare” (2022), directed by Marcello Adamo, available on Sky and Prime Video. The annual budget of the project amounts to approximately 250 thousand euros.
