Directed by Jeff Malmberg and Chris Shellen • 2017 • United States
Once upon a time, villagers in a small town in Tuscany came up with a remarkable way to confront their issues: they turned their lives into a play. Every summer, their piazza became a stage and residents of all ages played a part—as themselves. Monticchiello’s annual tradition has attracted worldwide attention and kept the town together for half a century, but with an aging population and a future generation more interested in social media than farming, the town’s fiftieth-anniversary performance might just be its last. SPETTACOLO tells the bittersweet story of Teatro Povero di Monticchiello, interweaving episodes from its past with its modern-day reality as the villagers turn a series of devastating blows into a new play about the end of their world.
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