Storia strana su di una terrazza romana

About the play

In 1973, Luigi De Filippo’s first major play, Storia strana su di una terrazza romana, was performed in Rome at the Teatro Parioli, and it was followed by a number of other successful plays including Come e perché crollò il Colosseo (1974) and Buffo napoletano (1986). Luigi’s plays often revolve around the Family, over which he invariably casts a critical eye because of the hold it tries to maintain over the individual’s desire for freedom and the need to be different from the rest – “essere se stessi” or to “to be oneself” – which for the most part the members of the younger generation feel compelled to do in ways which often meet with the disapproval of other members of their family. In this “storia strana” the author is particularly critical of the weaknesses inherent in all the characters taking part in this somewhat grotesque comedy, by using the “talking” and very nosy family dog, Scugnizzo, to bring out one main point: everyone is entitled to choose how to live but they must always be mindful of the feelings and sensibility of others, because in the end everyone has to face up to one’s own conscience and deeper awareness of self.