io//odio

"Co-Habitating with a Nazi Skinhead"by Valentina Diana

Usually, when I write for the theater, I proceed with a sense of infatuation: I look for a way to observe the characters, even the rough and ignorant ones, from an affectionate, tender, human perspective. In this case, it was different. I had to make room within myself for a brutal being, a being who took up space and asserted his vision, which was not mine. I had to cohabit with this thug who, on certain nights, inhabited my house, shouting and sweating on my couch. He was sad, I even felt sorry for him, but even though I understood his story, the reasons that had led him to become who he was, we couldn’t become friends. I was at his service and I served him, I gave him space, I offered him voice and words. He never asked questions, he dictated, and he didn’t want to know anything about me. It was a difficult cohabitation because sometimes I wanted to show him how things could be seen in a different way, with more shades, with fewer enemies. When he left, I sighed in relief, I closed the door, turned the key twice, and hoped I would never see him again. IO//ODIO is the first chapter of the trilogy project "Investigating Evil". The second chapter addresses the problem of pedophilia within the clergy: O Gesù d’amore acceso. The third chapter will investigate violence against women: Solomia.