One-act play, freely adapted from Heinrich von Kleist’s work.

With the Trojan War in the background - two characters, a man and a woman, challenge each other to a duel and fall in love. The two characters are Achilles, the most valiant of the Greek heroes, a figure of taurine virility, warrior-like, with strong neck, shoulders and arms gleaming with metal, and Pentesilea, queen of the Amazons, she who loves peace but acts towards torment, half fury and half grace. The game on scene winds through a continuous counterpoint of dynamic actions and rhythms played live on two large medieval drums, marking the time and the galloping, the assaults and the escapes, the abandonment and the fury that follow one another impetuously, until they give way to the great final silence.

”Pentesilea” is a one-act play for two actors on stilts, two beings somewhere between human and animal. It is the story of a clash between warriors who come to desire each other’s death for loving each other too much.

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Directed by: Stefano Tè 

Cast: Antonio Santangelo and Francesca Figini

Playwright: Stefano Tè

Artistic consultant: Mario Barzaghi

Music by: Igino L. Caselgrandi

Scenography and costumes: Emanuela Dall’Aglio. Assistant: Veronica Pastorino

A Teatro dei Venti production with the support of Emilia-Romagna Region. This project is also made possible thanks to the partnership with ATER Fondazione.

Running time: 45 min (no intermission)

Age restrictions: 12+

Free access

Performed in Italian, with English, Romanian and Hungarian translation