04/11/2025
The closing highlight in SACA’s Avventure Siciliane, a cultural festival exploring Sicilian themes of loss and power through theatre, film and lively discussions was 'I Fimmini Diciunu No' (The Women Say No).
Donatella La Macchia’s performance in I Fimmini Diciunu No is a lesson in theatrical resourcefulness, a dramaturgical gift direct from Messina in Sicily. With only her voice and body and a microphone, La Macchia inhabits the stage with an array of characters who are equal protagonists in this act of political theatre which chronicles the Italian Government’s 1971 attempt to exile 15 mafia bosses to the tiny island of Filicudi in the Eolian archipelago.
Like her one-time mentor Dario Fo, or more specifically his theatrical partner Franca Rame, La Macchia utilises the craft of the giullare – a form of radical medieval solo performer – to animate the stage with multiple personae and political opinions. She stalks the stage (and the audience) as a crowd of curious islanders, eager to know if the mafiosi have arrived. She precisely embodies an individual woman, who has been assaulted by a military commander yet boldly defies the authorities, urging on the women of the island in their refusal to allow the mafiosi to be housed on Filicudi.
Without need of any complex staging, La Macchia employs all her physical and vocal skills to make manifest this act of defiance, supported at critical moments by narrator-figure Donatella Alibrandi and accompanied on percussion by local musician Giovanni di Stefano. From a whisper to a scream La Macchia informs us, she cajoles us, she alarms us, she emboldens us: No! I fimmini diciunu No! The women say NO!
Thank you to SACA committee member, Laurence Strangio, for this fabulous review!
And of course, a VERY BIG THANK YOU to SocietĂ Isole Eolie Melbourne, our venue sponsor and host, to COASIT Melbourne, The Sicilian Association of Australia, our SACA committee members, the performers Donatella La Macchia Cuntastorie, Donatella Alibrandi and Giovanni Di Stefano of Solo Antico., and to our wonderful community of supporters, especially those who attended our events.
Photography by SACA committee member, Fiona Basile: Photographer & Writer. If using any of these photos, please credit the photographer.
