The Awakening | Teatro Arena del Sole

From November 6 to 9, 2025, at Teatro Arena del Sole, in the Leo de Berardinis Hall, the performance The Awakening (Il risveglio) takes the stage.

At the end of his previous piece Amore, a man falls asleep beneath a barren tree, which then becomes covered in blossoms. From that image begins Pippo Delbono’s latest creation. A resident artist at ERT, Delbono returns to Bologna after a long international tour.

Born from a deep awareness of his own fragility, the piece explores the universal feeling of loss through the artist’s own stories and poems. For the first time in his work, there are no texts by beloved authors — this time, Delbono felt the need to rely solely on his own words, to give voice to the pain and emotion that overwhelmed him.

The sleeping man now wishes to awaken from his numbness, aware of the risk of finding himself aged and facing a world worse than before.

Yet his true desire is to return to life. On stage, essential elements: a desert, where Delbono confronts the memory of Bobò, his loyal and unforgettable stage companion who passed away in 2019 — to whom the show pays tribute.

Duration: 65 minutes

On Sunday, November 9 at 4:00 PM, the performance will be audio described for blind and visually impaired audience members, in collaboration with the Diego Fabbri Center in Forlì, as part of the Teatro No Limits Project.

Pippo Delbono Company
A performance by: Pippo Delbono
With: Dolly Albertin, Margherita Clemente, Pippo Delbono, Ilaria Distante, Mario Intruglio, Nelson Lariccia, Gianni Parenti, Pepe Robledo, Grazia Spinella
And: Giovanni Ricciardi (cello and arrangements)
Lighting: Orlando Bolognesi
Costumes: Elena Giampaoli
Sound: Pietro Tirella
Head stage technician: Enrico Zucchelli
Production manager: Davide Martini
Production assistant: Riccardo Porfido
Company administrator: Arianna Soffiati
Technical director: Orlando Bolognesi
Touring technical staff: Manuela Alabastro (sound), Elena Giampaoli (costumes), Orlando Bolognesi (lights), Enrico Zucchelli / Mattia Manna (set)

Executive producer: Emilia Romagna Teatro ERT / National Theatre (Italy)
Co-producers: Teatro Stabile di Bolzano (Italy), Teatro Metastasio di Prato (Italy), Théâtre de Liège (Belgium), Sibiu International Theatre Festival / Teatrul Național “Radu Stanca” Sibiu (Romania), Teatrul Național “Mihai Eminescu” Timisoara (Romania), Italian Cultural Institute of Bucharest (Romania), TPE – Teatro Piemonte Europa / Festival delle Colline Torinesi (Italy), Théâtre Gymnase-Bernardines Marseille (France)
In collaboration with: Centro Servizi Culturali Santa Chiara di Trento (Italy), Le Manège Maubeuge – Scène Nationale (France)

Photo by Luca Del Pia