Trigger Warning: This paragraph mentions sexual violence.

Franca says No is a new show in development with Paper Smokers Theatre Company.

In 1966 Franca Viola became the first Italian woman to take to court a cultural convention that would have her marry her rapist Filippo Melodia, a mafia youngster: the matrimonio riparatore.

Franca says No will be a multisensory, multimedia performance piece, playing with different forms, narratives, visual images and movement. The show will have a strong documentary character (in particular an Italian style that was popular in the 1960’s when Franca lived) and include filmed material (new and archival) alongside a live performer.

Inspired by Franca’s resistance and other historical and contemporary activists, this project aims to interrogate the act of saying NO and how it can become a model of opposition and resistance, from the small NOs of everyday life to the big ones.

A first online scratch was presented in July 2020 with Omnibus Theatre’s Engine Rooms and a first concept of the show was developed as part of Theatre Deli’s ARTIVISM Festival 2022.