"Dentro. Una storia vera, se volete / Dentro (Inside). A True Story, If You Think So" by Giuliana Musso

Abstract

Giuliana Musso’s fearless play about the structures and cultures that hide sexual abuse is a Pirandellian spiral of truths that elude proof, presented through a theatrical framing that confounds reality with art. The most recent play of nine that she has written and performs in her preferred “theater of inquiry” style, Dentro (Inside), dramatizes Musso’s real-life encounter with an acquaintance who shared an impossible story of incest. In the opening minutes, Roberta discloses the horrifying experience of slowly learning that her ex-husband molested their daughter Chiara for years when they still lived together. Over a series of “chapters,” or scenes, it becomes apparent how every system in place to help vulnerable members of society—from the hospitals to private psychologists, the police and law enforcement, eventually the lawyers, the whole legal system, and even language itself—was unable to support Roberta and her daughter. To the contrary, given that the case was dismissed, they have gag orders; they cannot even speak of what happened so as not to slander the reputation of the ex-husband/ father. In a last-ditch effort, Roberta turns to Giuliana, who she knows as a celebrated actor-author, to devise a play that speaks to these issues. The actual play is ultimately a dramatized account of their real-life conversations.