Unusual Drama School in Rome is Set to Expand - NYTimes

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THEATER

Unusual Drama School in Rome Is Set to Expand

By GAIA PIANIGIANI SEPT. 3, 2014

ROME Changing peoples perceptions of mental illness has been a longtime mission for Dario

DAmbrosi, an Italian avant-garde actor and author. For the past five years, he has led Teatro Patologico, orthe Pathological Theater, an innovative drama school here that offers classes to people with mental

disabilities. Now Mr. DAmbrosi is trying to turn his school into a full-fledged university.

Next month, he plans to open a program that will offer a three-year diploma in the performing arts to

those with diagnoses of disorders including schizophrenia, manic-depression and autism as well as Down

syndrome.

It will be a real revolution, Mr. DAmbrosi said, referring to the program as a university for the

mentally disabled.

Mr. DAmbrosi, 55, has focused on working with the mentally ill for decades.

Now my hope has become to be able to help mentally disabled people with stagecraft more than with

drugs, he said. After years of teaching evening courses, Mr. DAmbrosi decided to step up his efforts and

showed his educational proposal to the government of the Lazio region, which agreed to fund the first year

of operation and is providing space adjacent to the drama school for daily classes. A psychologist will assess
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applicants and their emotional status, and students who are found suitable for the workload will attend

courses in acting, screenwriting, music composition, set design and costume making, depending on their

capabilities and needs.

Mr. DAmbrosi has also applied for other funds from European institutions to finance the second andthird year of this certificate, which is already officially recognized at the regional level. He also hopes to

obtain the education ministrys approval as a state-recognized university.

The Pathological Theater has not only taught students the works that they perform before paying

audiences, but it has also taught them to express their feelings onstage, and to travel the world. Mr.

DAmbrosis students have staged their annual productions in places like Wiltons Music Hall in London,

where the company did a version of Medea last year, and the Franco Parenti Theater in Milan.

Ive always wanted to be an actress, but my pathology never allowed it to me, said Marina Starace,55. Now my dream could become true.

Yet Mr. DAmbrosis project doesnt aim only at granting his students a diploma comparable to that of

other European drama schools. It also encourages a new culture for people with mental disorders.

University programs for disabled people have many limitations in Italy because the coursework is the

same regardless of the students abilities, said Antonella Giannaccaro, the 23-year-old medical student who

drafted the universitys bylaws with Mr. DAmbrosi. But if the entire class is special, they all have a better

chance at studying and really learning a skill.

In Italy, the mentally disabled have full access to public secondary schools and a right to be supported

by qualified teachers, but after graduation most stop studying. Many face the challenge of attending

university classes without customized courses or the support of a tutor.

Here, they will have the chance to study, to learn a craft based on their passions, said Monica

Schweiger, whose son Giorgio, 21, whose grave learning disability surfaced when he was 4 and who often


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asked his mother to save money to pay for his university education, she said, as she had for his older

brother. Every time hed ask, it broke my heart, Ms. Schweiger recalled.

The schools methods have no proven scientific success, but medicine doesnt resolve everything,

said Vincenzo Esposito, a neurosurgeon who has followed the theaters work for years. These people aresocially accepted. They travel the world. They are happy in what they do. Many would argue that this is

more important than being healthy.

Walter Procaccio, a psychiatrist who is studying the theaters courses, sees the experiment as

important. Recognizing their ability and not their disability is promising, he said.

Many of the students said they were enthusiastic about the prospect of a three-year program. I think

it could help me grow and live my life with more determination, said Cristiana Saporetti, 49, who is

affected by manic-depression, adding that attending drama school had changed even the timbre in hervoice.

Some students have already had serious training, like Valerio Serafini, 26, who has been on Italys

Paralympic Games team. Running has taught me the rules, he said. Theater has taught me emotions.

Like anyone else, we need both.

A version of this article appears in print on September 4, 2014, on page C2 of the New York edition with the headline: Unusual Drama

School in Rome Is Set to Expand.

2014 The New York Times Company
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Unusual Drama School in Rome is Set to Expand - NYTimes