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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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