"La Douleur"
dedicated to my husband

with
Paola Berselli

from a book by
Marguerite Duras

TEATRO DELLE ARIETTE - 1998

"La Douleur" is one of the most important things of my life.
The word “work” is not appropriate here.
I found pages full of a tiny calligraphy, extraordinarily calm and regular.
I found myself facing an astonishing disorder of thoughts and feelings, and I did not dare touching it. In front of it, I am ashamed of literature”
Marguerite Duras

In that period, my husband and I were working on re-writing Antigone in World War Two.
In a bookshop, I saw a collection of short stories, Marguerite Duras’ “La Doleur”. That title, the picture on the cover and the years it was written, impressed me a lot.
I bought the book.
I read it in few hours and cried.
I read it again and I felt that sorrow, I felt such a grief for that love.
I thought about my husband, about abandon and sacrifice.
I felt full of anger, for me, for the man, for the story.
And I read it through again

Paola Berselli