FIT Festival 2024, the International Festival of Theatre and Contemporary Scene, now in its 33rd edition, returns to Lugano from 4 to 13 October 2024, with a preview from 28 to 30 September. In 13 days, the public will be able to attend 22 performances, 8 meetings with artists, 2 in-depth talks, follow the “on the road” radio Keep FIT with Radio and the live broadcasts of the young team and explore the editorial project Looks on the contemporary.
The festival also includes social initiatives such as the Ticket Suspended, the intergenerational tandem Stay FIT! and two training workshops. The FIT will take place in different spaces in Lugano, bringing artists from seven countries: Belarus, France, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland.
FIT Festival 2024, a festival that questions the present
FIT confirms its position as a benchmark for contemporary theater and performance, bringing to the stage a variety of themes and reflections on today's world: "I believe that art's task is to interpret the world in all its complexity," explained artistic director Paola Tripoli , commenting on the 2024 edition. "Simplification is the trick used to indoctrinate, enlist, and entertain the masses at the expense of individuals."
The theme of rights and freedom permeates all aspects of FIT 2024, which proposes works that are intentionally different and dissimilar, but united by the intent to promote critical thinking on contemporaneity, offering the public "exercises in freedom" through artistic language.
A prestigious opening with Isabelle Huppert
The festival's opening will be marked by a major event: on September 29th and 30th, at the LAC, Jean Racine's Bérénice will be performed, directed by Romeo Castellucci, with the iconic Isabelle Huppert in the title role. Castellucci, known for his total theater, brings to the stage a drama that explores loneliness and abandonment, offering a reflection on the fragility of male power and women's awareness of life.
Exercises in Freedom: From Solitude to Rights
Among the most anticipated works is Partiturazero by Elena Boillat (4 and 5 October, Teatrostudio LAC), a performance that explores pre-linguistic languages and solitary physicalities, seeking to free itself from the weight of meanings.
The theme of freedom also pervades Elena Cotugno and Teatro dei Borgia's reworking of Medea (October 5 and 6, Circolo Acli), which tells the story of migrant women enslaved by prostitution rackets. This performance, defined as an experience rather than a simple performance, revisits the classical myth of Medea as a prostitute and a foreigner, offering a powerful reflection on the theme of marginalization.
Mohamed El Khatib, a previous guest at the festival, returns with La Vie Secrète des Vieux (October 5, Sala Teatro LAC), where he addresses the theme of aging and love in old age, questioning how society perceives the elderly.
Art, Technology and Activism
The relationship between technology and art is at the heart of Seer by Tamara Gvozdenovic (6 October, Palco LAC), which explores the world of digital images and online interactions, where “likes” become a new form of social gratification.
Gosia Wdowik's She Was a Friend of Someone Else (8 October, LAC Stage) brings activist burnout to the stage, reflecting on how rights, when not consistently protected, risk being lost, as happened in Poland with the recent illegalization of abortion.
Arkadi Zaides, a Belarusian artist and activist, presents The Cloud (October 10, Palco LAC), a reflection on hyperobjects and artificial intelligence, central themes of contemporary technology.
Program dedicated to young people and collateral events
The FIT doesn't forget the younger generations, with its Young and Kids section , which offers five shows for children and young adults at the Teatro Foce. These include Lo Specchio della Regina (October 6), Nuvole, a Tratti (October 8), and Demeter/Olympus Kids (October 13), a show for children aged 7 to 11.
In addition to its artistic programming, the FIT offers numerous collateral events. The Ticket Suspended program offers the opportunity to donate a ticket to those who can't afford it, while the Restez FIT! project promotes the participation of seniors in cultural life through intergenerational collaboration. Furthermore, two workshops and two in-depth talks will offer further food for thought, with the first dedicated to the relationship between art and activism and the second featuring a keynote address by philosopher Bruno Milone on the crisis of democracy.
