Synopsis

The text of Hospes-ītis tells the tale of a group of people, divided between patients and personnel, inside a building where people with rare and terminal illnesses are taken to accompany them towards death, without any form of help or intervention. Euthanasia is not practiced, but patients await death “with their bear always trimmed, always clean, always with dignity”. Inside the building, the experiences of the patients, who are called with the name of their disease, and of the personnel, led by a factotum director; everyone lives a personal drama until death, which only ever comes during conversations with the director, it appears to have unfinished business with him. It is January 31, the last day of the year, and it’s a Thursday. The director hardly ever leaves their room, he is waiting for a call. His daughter is gravely ill and he is afraid that her doctor might advise to bring her there, at Hospes, where they can accompany her. The factotum assists Rohhad, his brother, in an irreversible coma, and is conflicted because he expressed to him his wish of dying without slipping into a coma. But rules are different there. The new nurse knows that, or at least she learns as much from the director’s Thursday speech, while she slowly falls in love with a doctor who is the victim of Purpura, a patient who wants to go into the room of unrealized desire. Meanwhile Cloves, Lemierre and Parkinson play cards and bet and lose and win and write their wills and they beat each other up for a debt, while Minmata and Schindler, a married couple with two different grave illnesses, are convinced to be held captive and attempt, in vain, to flee, risking, in Minmata’s case, what is left of their life. It is December 31, and the cook is surprised by the news that the director wants to spend the night and, thus, the celebrations with them. What should he cook? Everything gets mixed up in Hospes, everything loses its borders and, thus, who was about to die lives and who was supposed to live feels death nearing. Death itself feels like it is a burden.

ABOUT THE Author:

Fabio Pisano Born in Naples thirty-four years ago on September 27, he studied biotechnological sciences, forming a scientific mind which turned out to be very useful in any context of his life. At the same time, he cultivated an enormous love for playwriting—for dramaturgy—by studying with revered playwrights, such as Mark Ravenhill and Martin Crimp. He attended several seminars by Enzo Moscato and Davide Carnevali and studied with some representatives of Spain’s new dramaturgical scene, such as Esteve Soler, Jose Manuel Mora, Ana Valubena, and Carolina Africa Martin. Important in his professional journey were Oskaras Korsunovas, Lluis Pasqual, Emma Dante, Massimiliano Civica, and Laura Curino. He participated in several national theatrical competitions, winning some of them, including the "Sipario.it" prize, the "Aldo Nicolaj" prize, the "Salvatore Quasimodo" prize, and the "Annibale Ruccello—il teatro che verrà" prize. He received an honorable mention for Best Original Story in a cinematographic short film at the Independent Shorts Awards (ISA) International Festival in Los Angeles. Lastly, in chronological order, he won the Premio Hystrio 2019, the second prize at the Premio InediTO—Colline di Torino, and the Premio Fersen for Dramaturgy at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan.