CLAUDIA ALLODI
CLAUDIA ALLODI - ACTRESS
Zona Crepuscolare
©2022 by Claudia Allodi - actress. Created with Flazio.com
Le Donne che Amano Muoiono
When the lights dim and silence fills the hall, three women step onto the stage. Their voices don’t ask for pity — they ask to be heard.
Eva speaks first, with uncertain tenderness, mistaking obsession for love. Then comes Maddalena, who knows the rules of her cage but still can’t
imagine a way out. And finally Frida, the one who dares to shout, who names the violence the others still whisper about.
Their stories intertwine — a song of fear, awakening, and rebellion. The monologues become poetry, gestures turn to dance, words become wounds that won’t heal. Every movement, every breath, carries the echo of a truth too often left unspoken.
“Le Donne che Amano Muoiono” is not a show that comforts — it’s a show that shakes you. Written and directed by Claudia Allodi, it blends theatre, poetry, song, and dance to reveal the many faces of gender-based violence. It is an act of resistance
disguised as art, a collective voice against silence. It reminds us that what we call “normal” is often the first form of violence — and that change begins the moment we choose to nameit..
Documentary show
Director’s Notes
The idea for the show comes from a deep personal need: to denounce a situation that in Italy is still deeply rooted, despite the many initiatives on the subject.
I have often found myself in conversations where the rhetoric of “we talk about it too much”, “it’s a story we’ve already heard” was pushed, when clearly there is
still a need to talk about it and raise awareness, at a time when more than two women a week keep dying because they are victims of violence. If we hear about it so much, it’s because it’s a real, widely felt problem, affecting over 50% of the population. And I, too, felt the need to do my part, to bring attention to the issue.
I wrote the first monologue in January 2025, reworking experiences lived firsthand or by people close to me. The monologue had a fair amount of success, and from there came the desire to build an entire show, one that wouldn’t tell just one story but could speak to all women. Through a post on social media I collected the testimonies of twelve women and a nine-year-old girl, who agreed to take part in a video interview on discrimination and gender stereotypes. I reworked their words, reflections and fears to integrate them into the dramaturgical structure I had
previously built, but I felt it still wasn’t enough: I wanted to give space, prominence and importance to their voices, so they would feel welcomed, understood and heard. I therefore decided to turn the project into a documentary theatre piece, inserting their interviews as an integral part of the staging. Over ten hours of video material, condensed into five projections of about six minutes each.
When we hear a news story about a victim of violence, we often hear incredulous comments: “how did she not notice?”, “how did she
not pick up the signs?”. Or there are those who are surprised by the perpetrator: “he was such a good guy, I just can’t explain it”. The thesis I follow in the show, and in
life, is that we are unable to recognize the seed of violence because over the years we have normalized a series of behaviors and attitudes that are actually not
normal, and that lead to a distorted perception of reality, of patriarchy and of the role of women in society.
It is precisely in those attitudes that the seed of violence lies: it doesn’t come from nowhere. We still need to learn to recognize those signs and condemn them, to prevent them from turning into something more serious.
For this very reason, in the three monologues I chose to tell very everyday stories, “normal” stories: nothing overly dramatic or violent. First of all, because I would like every woman to be able to recognize herself in those stories, because we have all experienced — to a greater or lesser extent and with more or less awareness — situations of discrimination; but also to show that the seed of abuse, violence and discrimination lies in the small things, in small gestures, in sexist jokes, in inappropriate comments. It is a mechanism that distorts reality and leads us to tolerate more and more
violence, until it’s too late. It’s easy to condemn a man who beats or
kills a woman — no one could say otherwise. It is less easy, instead, to condemn unwanted attention, the crude joke, jealousy in a relationship, gallantry as a way of imposing male superiority, as
a rigid categorization of gender roles. But the origin of violence is all there.
It is a composite show that brings together different languages, themes and sensations, yet
maintains unity and narrative coherence precisely thanks to the video testimonies, which lend authenticity and emotional closeness. They are normal stories, of ordinary women,
who live every day with violence and discrimination. This show is born from an urgency and wants to remain an urgency: to keep asking
questions, even uncomfortable ones, until they become unnecessary.
Approx. 20-minute excerpt from the full project, produced at Cinema Teatro La Compagnia on 4 March 2026, for the closing event of the project “Da Divise a Uniche” by GEST Florence and Nosotras APS, created in collaboration with Accademia Italiana, La Toscana delle Donne, with the patronage of the Municipality of Florence and the Tuscany Region.
by and with Claudia Allodi
with the participation of Vieri Raddi - recorded voice
musical arrangement Tommaso Nannucci
choreography Maria Gambioli
production Zona Crepuscolare
show created with the support and collaboration of Florence District 4
and Econt@ SRL