LA SOSTABZA INSTABILE

With a tense and precise voice Giulia Lombezzi tells about life when it is dangerously close to its end, when it sizzles on the skin and leaves it a scar.

When the European Championships take place in July, it is scorching hot and thousands of people are sweating in Piazza Sempione in Milan. Caterina is wearing the wrong shoes. She sways on her heels as her husband pulls her towards the big screen where Italy's and France's teams are preparing to fight. Behind her, Marco is nervous, as if he had to be the one to play the game. His family surrounds him, standing firm as a fortress, and eager to celebrate the victory. Serena feels she is in the wrong place, but this always happens to her when she goes out. Being seventeen can hurt a lot. Nearby, Sandro uncorks a beer and exchanges predictions with his son. Flavio doesn't care about football, but he wants to make his father happy and has caught a train from Bologna just to be there. The players sing the anthem and everyone has the same lump in their throat. They hold their breath: the game begins. But suddenly there is an explosion and chaos swirls all around them. The lump in their throats melts into panic and now all they can think about is getting to safety. Evening becomes night, the people turn into a deaf and ferocious mass. Seemingly endless hours pass and dawn returns. A new day is restored. But something goes lost and someone is caught in the stampede. Perhaps someone did not run fast enough and will not be coming back. What does come back, however, is that night, a night that Caterina, Marco, Flavio and Serena will remember forever. Giulia Lombezzi is a playwright and direcor. Her plays have been performed in Sweden, Poland and Iran. In 2017, she won a scholarship from the Belleville School with the short story La vita è un gioco. The following year she won the "Il titolo e altri racconti" competition with the short story Fuga in fa maggiore. La sostanza instabile, a finalist for the Calvino Prize 2020, is her first novel.