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Silvia Frasson, actress, decided to move to the hills of Chianti a while ago. We met with her to talk about her coming show and to ask if living in our area influenced her on the stage.

Silvia Frasson, actress, tell us who you are.

“I am Tuscan, from the hills of Siena, Chiusi. When I was 20, I left town to study at the “Paolo Grassi” Theatre Academy in Milan. It was my first encounter with the city. I had started acting at the classical high school in Montepulciano. I was comfortable there and thought I did better on the stage than in real life. When I was a young girl, I was shy and quiet. On the stage I felt free to be the opposite. I wasn’t afraid. I felt it was my calling. I studied in Milan for four years. School began at nine in the morning and ended at 7 PM from Monday to Friday. I then started working. Let’s call it a meeting/accident. It is very difficult to do this job. There are a few possibilities, not much money, and many actors. There is little protection and little acknowledgment. But it is the best job in the world. You can live 1000 lives and get to know many stories. Since working was so difficult, I created my own way. I began to write my shows. I told them the way I wanted to and would find a musician to accompany me and to go around and tell my story. It is going very well, but it is hard work….but good work. Over the years I have been able to participate as an actress in other productions. I have worked with great directors and in large productions I love to to be a ‘hired actress’, but it is increasingly difficult and if you are creative, you are lucky.” In a certain sense you were “kidnapped” by our territory, seeing that you chose to live in Chianti.

 

Tell us how you arrived here.

“I was living in Florence for six years; prior to that, I lived in Rome and Milam. Florence was a better dimension for my soul. I wasn’t used to have palaces and traffic around me, but skies and hills. Two years ago, I was finally able to get a car. Let’s say that theatre actors are not covered in gold. You always have to make ends meet at the end of the month. After that, I wanted to find a house on the hillside. I arrived at San Quirico by chance. I published an ad that I was looking for a house outside of the city. I wasn’t familiar with these zones. Exactly a year ago I went to see the house. It was a cold and sunny Sunday. While I was arriving among the hills, I was excited. I saw the house. I felt at home immediately. It was as if the hills and I were finally together again as a family. The hills really kidnapped me.”

 

Is the Chianti life as you expected? Did you have any positive or negative surprises?

“Since I have been here I am happy. Silence and wind. If you stay in the city you have to give up silence. For me it is golden. I take long walks and put myself at peace with the world in my thoughts. A month ago I entered a grocery store and everyone said hi to me as if they knew me. At my surprise, they answered: ‘You’re the girl who walks!”. I laughed a lot. As soon as I moved in, my neighbors introduced themselves and offered help. There is a human connection in a place like this that doesn’t exist in the city. You can tell that someone who lives here is happy and proud…and in peace. This is a great treasure When I see the neighborhood children playing in front of their home I think that this is a wonderful environment for children to grow up in…the best. There’s always time to leave; the city is not running away. The only negative note are the mischievous cats…..who pee on my flowers! But we have signed a peace agreement. I let them sleep on the mat in front of my house, and I put holly on my flowers. At night there is the game of “Toto-animale”. What animal will I find tonight? Wild boar, badgers, jack rabbits, foxes, porcupines, fawns? There is an exciting night world in the hills”.

Has living here influenced your work?

“Yes, definitely. I was looking for a place like this because it is perfect for creativity; silence and nature. For me they are both necessary for my projects, to write, to be inspired. To live up here is a simple form, but strong with meditation”.

 

locandinaCan you tell us about your future engagements?

“On January 26th I will be at the Boccaccio theatre in Certaldo. The show is called “Amore e Ginnastica”, an adaptation of the novel by Edmondo De Amicis, created by Stefano Massini, an important person on the theatre and cultural panorama of the moment. I am director and actress. Live music will be performed by the excellent Tommaso Ferrini. It is a very entertaining love story between a young, clumsy, ex-seminarian and a beautiful gymnastics instructor, a very unusual Amicis. Then we will see. I have things I want to do. I will take this occasion to say: if you have stories, come and tell them to me!” Come and meet ‘the girl who walks’!”.

Matteo Pucci

 

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