Paper Smokers/Fumatori di Carta presents:
Diary of an Expat
Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre
Tuesday 2nd – Friday 5th April 2019
Performed
by Cecilia Gragnani
Directed
by Katharina Reinthaller
Written by Cecilia Gragnani, Jvan Sica and Loredana de Michelis
Coming to Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle from 2 – 5 April, Diary of an
Expat is a funny and provocative look at what it means to live abroad.
Cecilia Gragnani is an Italian expat sharing her personal experience and
testimonials from amusing miscommunications to bewildering legal
technicalities. Cecilia became a British citizen less than a year ago, and the
show brings aspects of the process that are confusing, infuriating, or just
plain funny; did you know that Scotland has five ski resorts? Expats who have
passed the citizenship test do!
Cecilia has lived in the UK for ten years. She learned very early on how
to make a proper round of tea, adopted the British queueing system as gospel,
and developed a deep and abiding love for sausage rolls (far more than any Brit
she knows). On the other hand, she still supports AC Milan. But aside from the
humour in the show, it also explores what it means to be too Italian to be
considered British, and too British to be considered Italian.
Ahead of her
show arriving this week in Newcastle, we had a chance to ask Cecilia all about Diary of an
Expat.
What is Diary of an Expat about?
Diary of an Expat is a semi autobiographic
comedy about an immigrant’s journey towards full Britishness while a funny
little thing called Brexit threatens the European dream of life abroad. It’s based on personal experiences as
well as testimonies collected over the past years. It is a love letter to the
UK as well as an attempt to create a more honest portrait of European
immigrants.
What inspired you to write it?
The “Life in the UK” book that future
citizen have to study to pass the exam and access the citizenship. It was full
of comedy gold I couldn’t ignore. I also wanted to tell a story about European
citizens. Despite the classics literature and plays there’s not much on stage,
at least in London, that talks to and about us. I believe theatre is a precious
environment where a society can come together and reflect on what happens in
the world at a given time and I wanted to tell a story about how the tectonic
shift that Brexit is and will be affects people and their lives.
You’ve also performed the show in Italy, which came first?
The UK version came first. The original idea
was for an Italian audience, to share a story of emigration with my countrymen.
Soon after Brexit started to unfold and I realised that it was a story that
could resonate in the UK as well. Funding wise, it was easier and smoother to
work on the UK production first. At the end of 2018 I started developing the
Italian version (which will end up being a very different show as in it I will
be the native, flipping the perspective) which will open in Italy before the
end of the year.
Do you consider yourself British or Italian?
Despite being now a British citizen as
well, I still feel predominantly Italian. However I’ve noticed that my ten
years in the UK have had a strong impact on my customs. I do struggle to accept
forms of queuing that don’t follow the British way of doing it, I love sausage
rolls (which I think makes me more British than the Brits themselves) and I
noticed I talk much more about the weather than before. Jokes aside, I have
acquired habits that have certainly come from my life in the UK and my process
of integration inside the community I live in.
What do you think audiences will leave feeling?
I hope they will be entertained and feel
like they spent an hour mostly laughing and partly crying or being moved. They
will hopefully leave more curious about immigrants and the citizenship process.
My biggest goal is for Europeans to feel less lonely, to have their story
heard, and for British people to feel less scared.
What’s the funniest miscommunication you’ve had since coming to
England?
The first that comes to mind is linguistic
and was a few months after I arrived in 2008. I was at drama school and we were
working on some scenes, I had a line which was something like “Would you like
another pot?”. It was an acting for camera session and I was very focused on
the technical side of the scene so instead I said “Would you like some pot?”.
The whole class started laughing and explained that I had just offered drugs…
Another big miscommunication happened
around tea. I offered to make some tea to a bunch of British colleagues and it
didn’t go well. I would advise non British people to never be so daring. I came
back with tea without milk and it didn’t go well. My colleagues were annoyed
and outraged, that’s not how you make tea. But I learnt the lesson and never
did it again.
The show arrives at Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre on
Tuesday and performs until Friday – details of this “Pay What You Feel” show
are below.
On
The Web:
@Paper_Smokers
@thececiliag
#DiaryofanExpat
Cast
& Creatives:
Performed
by Cecilia Gragnani and Steve Wickenden (voice over)
Directed
by Katharina Reinthaller
Written
by Cecilia Gragnani, Jvan Sica and Loredana de Michelis
Set
design by Rasa Selemonavičiūtė
Sound
design by Neil McKeown
Movement
director Mala Cherga Theatre
Tickets:
Running
Time: 60 mins
Suitable
for ages 14+
Tickets
are ‘Pay What You Feel’
Theatre
website: https://www.alphabettitheatre.co.uk/whats-on-menu/coming-up/17-whats-on-articles/424-diary-of-an-expat
Tickets
reservations: https://www.ticketsignite.com/event/731/diary-on-an-expat
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