Being on the edge of extinction is no longer a metaphor.
To get out of the destructive attitude of GAME OVER that this awareness could bring, Donna Haraway writes Staying with the trouble, a speculative essay that includes short stories of science fiction where she imagines possible futures in which the human species joins forces with other species to heal the planet and taking care of it again (and better).
Inspired by Haraway's stories, the show features a small colony of individuals who moved to over-exploited and damaged areas to heal them, thanks to symbiotic collaboration with non-human partners.

They are Earthbound
Earthbound are humans who are implanted with the genes of endangered creatures in order to preserve the endangered species they are melted with. The purpose of the symbiont is to start a learning process that leads it to live in symbiosis with its double animal or plant, so as to create a new perspective to rethink the adaptation and coexistence of man with the natural environment.
Earthbound are aware that no species acts alone, not even the human one and that it is not possible to distinguish organism from the environment. Thus they aim at the drastic reduction of human presence on Earth to cope with the exhaustion of the now almost drained natural resources.
“Make kin, not babies” is the first commandment of a birth control policy based on partially replacing blood ties with those of care.
For the Earthbound, the birth of a child is a collective choice, rare and precious. A choice the whole community is responsible for. At least three parents are assigned to each child.
Earthbound are made real on stage through the animatronic techniques designed by Paola Villani and inspired by Australian artist Patricia Piccinini. The result is a science-fiction monologue for an actress and some puppets, where the contemporary eco-feminist thought is turn into a show and the Italian Puppet Theatre tradition is contaminated with innovative animation techniques.

Earthbound is a neologism invented by Bruno Latour to meet the contemporary need for a new definition of our species on the basis of a new relationship between it and the Earth, which is no longer limited to blind attachment to the ground, as the word "human" implies (from homo, hominis, closely related to the term humus, "earth"). The climate issue requires us to be sensitive again and to be connected to Gaia, to its multiple ties and symbiotic relationships. Overcoming the fracture between Man and Nature, recognizing that the environment influences the development of the individual that exists thanks to symbiotic relationships with other species such as bacteria, viruses and fungi. This new approach to the human being as holobyont would allow us to find answers to ecological changes. According to Latour, we need to be no longer simply "Human" but Earthbound

If “It matters what stories make worlds, what worlds make stories” – as Donna Haraway affirms, Earthbound is one of the possible stories of the new world we may inhabit in the near future.
This new play has already obtained an important result as it was included among the 122 projects supported by i-Portunus, European call for creative mobility. Selected among more than 1200 subscriptions from all over Europe, our work was chosen because it is based on technological innovation in puppet theatre, a sector which is usually and still very tradition-oriented. The support of i-Portunus allowed us to develop the first prototype of mechanical creature built by special effects and animation expert João Rapaz and his team, in Oldskull FX studios in Lisbon.

Tecno-polymers manufacturing leading company Igus® is once more technical partner in our project, providing components for the puppets’ internal skeletons. The new animation systems we are designing does not involve electronics: everything is mechanically moved by a single performer. This characteristic requires light and reliable components that Igus® only can guarantee.
This new collaboration with Igus® represents our attempt to create synergies between cultural and technological industries, in the hope that research and innovation would help those who support them to grow and have benefits.

Nessuno spettacolo futuro al momento

pics by Guido Mencari

By and with: Marta Cuscunà

set design: Paola Villani
assistant director: Marco Rogante
animatronic design: Paola Villani
animatronic construction: Paola Villani e Marco Rogante
creatures sculpting and modelling: João Rapaz, Janaína Drummond, Mariana Fonseca, Rodrigo Pereira, Catarina Santiago, Francisco Tomàs, (Oldskull FX-Lisbon)
dramaturg: Giacomo Raffaelli
sound design: Michele Braga
light design: Claudio “Poldo” Parrino

technical direction: Massimo Gianaroli;
stage manager, head electrician and sound master: Marco Rogante
stage technician: Simone Spangaro / Jurgen Koci

set realized in the workshop of: Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione
technical sponsor: igus® innovazione con i tecnopolimeri
pulleys: Marta s.r.l. forniture per l’industria
iron constructions: Righi Franco Srl
Steel wire and sheath for bike breakes: Franza Giuseppe

photo: Guido Mencari

A special thank to Giusi Merli who kindly granted the use of her appearance to realize Camille 1

Production: Emilia Romagna Teatro Fondazione, CSS Teatro stabile di innovazione del FVG, Etnorama
With the support of: São Luiz Teatro Municipal (Lisbon), Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Lisbona, i-Portunus, A Tarumba – Teatro de Marionetas (Lisbon), the citizens who joined the project #iosonoMecenate
(Carlo Chiarino, Anonymous, Tania Grimaldi, Anonymous, Multiservice di Gloria Vezzoli, Davide Pocchiesa, Eleonora Belloni, Claudio Regeni, Giovanna Rovedo, Omar Manini, Veronica Viotti, Michele Ferrandino, Isabella Sartogo, Roberto Franco, Anonymous, Gianna Gorza, Serena Stocco, Angela Ascari, Laura Cantarella, Agata Cacciola, Anna Zucchiatti, Alessandro Amato, Franco Parlamento, Anonymous)

Thanks to: Andrea Macaluso, Antonella Ninni, Barbara Boninsegna, Eleonora Odorizzi, Famiglia Cuscunà, Famiglia Villani e dipendenti ditta Marta, Filippo Raschi, Francesco Gritti, Francesco il biciclettaio, Il lavoratorio, Jean-François Mathieu, Laura Marinelli, Maria Magalhaes, Sue Ellen.