An Upper Italian speech in Sicily
Nicosia’s Gallo-Italic is not a variety of Sicilian. It is an Upper Italian speech, brought to the island by the Lombard settlers who arrived under Norman rule and still alive in only a handful of inland Sicilian towns: Nicosia is the best known of them. The festival named after that language gives it three evenings in Piazza Garibaldi.
The three dates
- Monday 7 September, 21:00 — a comedy, with the Compagnia Teatrale Briciole d’Arte.
- Sunday 13 September, 21:00 — the tragicomedy Ndria e Ntunietta, staged by the I.I.S. F.lli Testa.
- Thursday 17 September, 18:30 — a poetry recital, with the Compagnia Teatrale Girasole.
Who takes the stage
There is no single company behind it: two local theatre companies — Briciole d’Arte and Girasole — and the F.lli Testa secondary school, that is the students. It is the most direct way to hand on a language you learn by speaking it.
Good to know
- The dialect is staged by two local theatre companies — Briciole d’Arte and Girasole — and the students of the I.I.S. F.lli Testa, with the Pro Loco Nicosia.
- All three evenings are held outdoors, in Piazza Garibaldi; the third is the only late-afternoon date.
- The official programme says nothing more: any changes come through the Municipality’s channels.
