Decameron, a true story

On 19 September 2020 in Union Square, New York City, a huge timer began its countdown from 7 years, 95 days, 2 hours and 36 minutes: the time that experts believe separates humanity from environmental disaster. 

In 1348, a severe plague raged through the city of Florence: corpses filled the streets, ties between people were broken, and mass graves multiplied. Boccaccio recounts those tragic days in his literary masterpiece, the Decameron. The Tuscan writer tells the story of a "brigade" of ten young people (7 women and 3 men) who fled the city to escape the contagion. Two weeks of exile under the sign of "storytelling": a story a day for each of them, for a total of one hundred tales.

Seven hundred years later, in the midst of a new global pandemic, six artists decide to stage the last party before the end of the world, after experiencing their own personal Decameron. In an age in which the sense of the tragic seems to have been lost, what are we afraid of losing? What sign would we like to leave before everything ends?

DECAMERON – a true story

project and direction by Stefano Cordella
dramaturgy Filippo Renda
by and with Woody Neri, Alice Redini, Filippo Renda, Daniele Turconi, Nicolò Valandro, Silvia Valsesia
assistant director Noemi Radice
set and costume design Eleonora Rossi
light design Fulvio Melli
original compositions and sound design Gianluca Agostini
production manager Elisa Mondadori
technical staff Luna Mariotti, Ahmad Shalabi
a coproduction MTM Manifatture Teatrali Milanesi / TrentoSpettacoli
with the support of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities