FRA’ – SAN FRANCESCO, LA SUPERSTAR DEL MEDIOEVO

A monologue about the pop figure of Saint Francis of Assisi: artist, creative genius, and visionary. He went down in history thanks to his irresistible personality.

How can one talk about Saint Francis of Assisi without falling into clichés? Why does everyone know him? Why have tens of thousands of texts been written about him? What makes him so irresistible? He wasn’t the only one preaching poverty, and many saints and even heretical movements of his time had embraced the same radical choice.

What made him so special was that he was an artist, perhaps the greatest in history. His sermons were wild, visionary masterpieces, performances of avant-garde theater. He played with the elements of nature, improvised in French, recited passages from the chanson de geste, twisting their meanings. He used his body, his nudity, even his own illness, physical pain, and silence as part of his expression.

This monologue – orchestrated with medieval hymns and ancient instruments by Luciano di Giandomenico, Maurizio Picchiò, and Stefano Carloncelli – explores the incredible persuasive power that makes Saint Francis a pop icon even today. It follows the life of the poor man from Assisi, and his obsessive effort to express the mystery of God in every possible form. No one in history has told the story of God with such genius and creativity. Francis could captivate massive crowds. He could sing and dance, make people laugh and cry.

And then, the grand finale: death. Francis had a bond of brotherhood, almost a carnal love, with 'Sister Death', from whom no living man can escape. And neither the audience will escape it: chained to their theater seats, they will be forced to face the ultimate, inescapable taboo of our time: we are not immortal.