Mexican-American actors Ana Graham and Antonio Vega have brought their critically acclaimed work, A Special Day, to this year’s Fringe World Festival.
Based on the 1977 Italian film Una Giornata Particolare, the pair describe the play as a bittersweet human drama about a life changing encounter between two neighbours at a time of political unrest.
Graham and Vega explain that they discovered the work after moving to New York, trying to find their way as actors.
“When we arrived in New York, we didn’t know anybody and we thought we spoke good English… then we realised our English wasn’t that good and we spoke with a very thick accent,” Graham said.
“We wondered what we were going to do as actors with this accent. This idea of doing two Italian characters, it was a little easier for us to take the Italian accent, and the play is so playful in a way it really doesn’t matter.”
“We took it to so many places around the world, and we realised it was a universal play somehow,” Vega adds.
“It was relatable to people from all over the world. It’s about humanity, and it didn’t matter if we were Mexicans playing Italian from the USA performing in Singapore, you know?”
The play, like the film, is set in 1938 Rome, where the fascist Mussolini reigns, and Adolf Hitler is en route to visit his Italian counterpart. Vega explains that even in 2020, this story resonates with audiences around the world.
“It’s pretty clear that the world is getting closer to being dangerously far-right,” Vega said.
“There is some resemblance to fascism, to this totalitarian way of thinking. We think it’s important to talk about the importance of freedom, of tolerance, of respecting people’s rights.”
Upon the backdrop of World War 2, A Special Day is a love story, piercing through the darkness of the world around these characters.
“Antonietta is a married woman, but her world is really small. She’s trapped in her cage of ignorance in a way,” Graham explains.
“When she meets this man, she is treated in a different way. He’s interested in her thoughts, her interpretation of the world, her sexuality. This woman that felt a bit like a piece of furniture falls for him, deeply. There is a surprise in that relationship though, it doesn’t work out the way that she was hoping, but she is grateful that someone can see her for who she was.”
“It’s a love story about two people who are trapped… each one of them in a different kind of cage,” Vega added.
“My character Gabriele cannot live his life in the way he wants to, or is supposed to, because the government is telling him that it’s forbidden. It’s against the law to be the person that he is. Antonietta is also told that she is supposed to be submissive.”
“They’re both trapped in different cages, and this chance encounter between the two of them means they get to know each other, she gets to know her neighbour. That’s so important in our lives, we live in bubbles, and sometimes if we get into someone else’s bubble, there’s a whole universe there.”
A Special Day is at Girls School until Sunday 16th February. For tickets and more information, head to fringeworld.com.au
Leigh Andrew Hill
