From the Other Side: The Journey of Consciousness

Marian Diamond, a neuroscientist and professor at the University of California, demonstrated that 50/75% of neurons are lost during prenatal development, and neurons continue to be lost throughout life. Inspired by this study, Emanuele D'Errico, a director, author and one of the three actors on stage, along with Dario Rea and Francesco Roccasecca, created the theatrical story 'From the Other Side. 2+2=?', which will be performed on Saturday, April 20 at 7:00 PM, with a repeat performance on Sunday, April 21, at the Teatro Nuovo di Napoli. Presented by Putéca Celidònia and Cranpi, the production features off-stage narration by Clara Bocchino, set design by Rosita Vallefuoco, lighting by Giuseppe Di Lorenzo, sound design and original music by Tommy Grieco, costumes by Giuseppe Avallone, and masks by Luca Arcamone. We are in the womb, where three heterozygous triplets just conceived meet, aware that as time passes and birth approaches, they will gradually lose neurons until they reach total natal unconsciousness. What do they do while waiting? How do three fetuses live in a space as mysterious as the maternal womb? Challenges and competitions arise, interrupted by mysterious external shocks that mark the passage of time. With each shock, something changes: their posture, their intellectual abilities. The information fades, the game becomes more and more childish, their language less refined, but at the fourth shock, something does not go as before. 'It is from the theater - says the director - that everything is born, from a work of scenic writing. It started with a hemp rope about ten meters long that kept us inseparably tied. From this physical and metaphorical bond, the research process began, experimenting with the sensation of this impediment in all its facets.' Through snippets of dramaturgy often stolen from everyday life, bit by bit, in a process similar to that of the fetus in gestation, the show was born, thanks to the contribution of a company in constant exchange and dialogue with every craft. The Putéca Celidònia project won the award for young theater realities in Udine in 2019 and was a semifinalist in InBox 2021.