Simone Cristicchi: my Paradise, from darkness to light

from Paola Medori

The actor and songwriter brings to the Umberto Room with the new show inspired by Dante. Between songs, monologues and moments of reflection

Starting from the last Dante canticle, I began an inner journey: from darkness to light. Between songs, monologues and moments of reflection I speak of spirituality, of the great mystery of life after death. Words by Simone Cristicchi, the eclectic songwriter, writer, actor and already winner of the Sanremo Festival in 2007 with I’ll give you a rosereturns to the stage of the Sala Umberto protagonist of the show Paradise. From darkness to lightfrom Tuesday 22 March to 3 April.

Face the Divine Comedy through its point of view.
As a child I was a book thief. The first one I stole was there Divine Comedy, in pocket version. I was a big reader but couldn’t afford to buy them. This was the first contact with the Supreme Poet. On stage I tell the most intimate and touching experiences I have lived. For the first time it is only Simone, without masks who questions the concept of “paradise” in all its facets: from the millennial search for lost Eden – the most widespread universal myth in all cultures of the world – up to the thirty-third canto, when Dante meets the divine spark.

Is the path to Heaven a metaphor for human evolution and an exhortation to look up?
the great theater of life, in the eternal struggle between good and evil. Of calm and storm that must be faced, trying to give meaning to existence. Alighieri tells us, metaphorically, that the life of each of us is a vital impulse towards the light that shines. And he ends all three canticles with the word “star”, our goal.

Seven hundred years after his death, what does he still teach us?
Talking about Heaven in the face of the bloody war in Ukraine seems truly utopian. Then I reflected that it is the artist’s duty to share his vision without losing hope. Art feeds the soul, asks questions and reverberates around us. Our choices and actions affect the world and reality.

What is your Paradise?
I have two of them. My home in Velletri, surrounded by nature, among olive trees, plants and silence. And the stage. I am moved by the rising curtain, the faces of the audience in the room and I am still amazed that someone wants to hear my voice, my songs and stories. The theater is a liturgy. A state of permanent joy.

In 2019 he released the album-collection Take care of me, are new songs waiting for us?
I don’t have a new record coming out. Many ask me. I keep writing songs that I sing live on my theater shows. Neither Heaven there are five unreleased songs, such as The few things that matter or From darkness to lighta letter addressed to God, “the Love that moves the sun and the other stars”, as Dante defines it, with a text that I feel deeply.


A versatile performer, do you seem to reject any label?
I wanted to challenge my skills as a storyteller and measure myself with the art of theater since, at the age of 16, I saw Gigi Proietti at the Sistina and was struck by his ability to entertain the public, making them laugh, cry and move in this perfect habitat. With the show Warehouse 18 that was a coincidence and an unexpected success I have never stopped. And finally I go back to my origins, to perform in my city. My grandfather was born in Monti, while my grandmother from Trastevere. I’ve been a thoroughbred Roman, for generations.

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March 19, 2022 (change March 19, 2022 | 07:14)

Simone Cristicchi: my Paradise, from darkness to light