14.10.2008

Is there any link between Shakespeare's Macbeth and Saviano's Gomorrah?

Macbeth is one of the most well-known tragedies by William Shakespeare. There’s the Scotland, a prophecy, a tyrannicide, and the rise and fall of a ‘wannabe-king-became cruel tyrant’ knight and his egoisme a deux with the calculating Lady. Gomorra is the groundbreaking 2006 book by Roberto Saviano, already staged and quickly transposed into the 2008 movie by Matteo Garrone.It features Naples, Camorra, money, violence, illegality, ambitious boys and ‘entrepreneurs’ who never listened to their conscience. A world in a word, the so called “Sistema”.Do the “Scottish play” and the Camorrists’ Chronicles have anything in common ? Of course they do, and we, students of the “English Language II” course, here at the DaViMus, are going to catch similarities, work on the differences, shape atmospheres and characters merging two worlds so distant and different, and at the same time so close, in our wonderful, amazing, forthcoming theatrical performance.During the 14th October lesson this project was presented (obviously, enthusiastically received by the students) and there was the first debate of a -likely- long series. We first tried to point out some of the concepts shared by both of the texts, for example the avidity, the eagerness of power, above all; then the betrayal, which paves the way to a new ‘boss’ both in Macbeth and in many of Gomorra’s tales, as well as the role of the woman in this cynical universes (Lady Macbeth is not very far from some of the Camorra women), and the use of fear as a mean to subdue the will of people. After some more or less abstract speeches, somebody suggest to start thinking about something more concrete, like the location of our play… well, maybe we’ve really gotta start talking concrete: but let’s not forget that our adventure has just begun, and there’s still a long, long way to go…

Pasquale Parisi