BLIND LOVE
white lies chapter three
a performance by Alessandro Berti
featuring Alessandro Berti and Rosanna Sparapano
directed by Alessandro Berti
curated by Gaia Raffiotta
lighting design by Théo Longuemare
photography by Daniela Neri
produced by ERT / Teatro Nazionale
in collaboration with Casavuota
based on a proposal by Anna de Manincor / ZimmerFrei
In a bedroom on a Sunday morning, a Black woman and a White man unexpectedly find themselves tearing through the veil of habit. They attempt to give voice to the unspoken regarding certain hot-button issues: desire, body image, racial stereotypes, and political consciousness.
Blind Love is the final installment of the White Lies (Bugie Bianche) trilogy—a journey exploring the history and current dynamics of the relationship between the White majority and the Black minority in Western societies.
Blind Love centers on a couple—a man and a woman—in what would today be called an interracial relationship: he is White, and she is Black. Both are Italian, educated, and well-informed—quintessential urbanites. She has a Francophone background, while he is Anglophone. On a Sunday morning in their studio apartment, they begin a discussion sparked by a confession—or rather, a question—from him: what kind of desire is it when you desire someone you can steer or command? Furthermore, why is a Black woman, in the eyes of a White man, always reduced to either the slave or the Amazon—representing the extremes of either passivity or aggression? Naturally, she does not identify with these roles and aspires to be seen for who she truly is. Yet, even for a couple like this, escaping the ghosts—both personal and societal—is no easy task.
However, the text goes beyond merely examining the psychological pitfalls of an “interracial” relationship in the here and now. The two characters—citizens of the future—draw upon their culture and capacity for reason to venture further, soon finding themselves discussing broader issues: what attitude should one adopt toward the identity struggles of a society that has become tribal? What role does religion play in shaping our psyche? Is the memory of suffering—both personal and collective—a necessary warning or a burden to be cast off? How does the time we spend in front of a screen change us? And specifically: how does pornography influence the dynamics of desire? How do racial—or racialized—constructs shape the way we view the people we love? Is love blind, or does blindness toward others prevent us from truly loving?
Alessandro Berti