In praise of toil and conflict, which find their ideal home in the theatre

What role can culture play in shaping the future? The answer depends on what we mean by culture and, above all, what sort of future we want. The word ‘culture’ originally meant ‘to cultivate, to work the land, to nurture’. Culture, therefore, is cultivation: the act of caring for something so that it may grow. There is, therefore, a very powerful image at its core: culture is not something that is inherited; it is something that is cultivated.

If your grandfather has ploughed the land, it is not as though you inherit it just as it is and no longer have to plough it yourself. He can teach you how to do it, but then you have to do the work yourself. You have to pick up the spade and get started. What do you inherit? You inherit the fact that he teaches you how to do it; you inherit the memory. Just as land can be tilled and made to bear fruit, so the mind can be educated and refined, and culture gradually becomes the means by which human beings cultivate themselves: knowledge, the arts, education, ways of thinking. Culture, therefore, is the work that enables you to look after yourself – to be more aware, attentive and sensitive. Culture is everything that shapes your identity and sets the course for your future.

When we discuss the future today, we are discussing technology, algorithms and artificial intelligence. A vast market has opened up in this field, one that is shaping our present. Technology has replaced human action in many sectors thanks to two factors: speed and convenience. Today, we carry out tasks more quickly and conveniently using digital technology. Everything is at our fingertips.

In his "American Lectures", Italo Calvino devotes a chapter to Speed, and does so in his own unique way by discussing Mercury and Vulcan. Mercury represents mobility, speed, intuition and the ability to make connections. Vulcan, on the other hand, represents concentration, craftsmanship, patience and construction. Man needs both: the speed of Mercury must be made possible by the slow, painstaking work of Vulcan.

Everything is at your fingertips. Even the keys of a piano are at your fingertips. But we know full well that you cannot learn to play the piano quickly and easily. We know it takes time, effort and the ability to cope with frustration and repetition. It is not something you are born with; it is something you can cultivate. It takes as long as it takes.

I do not want a future in which education is all about speed and convenience. I want an education that fosters culture – that is, one that teaches us to cultivate and to understand the value of hard work.

Theatre, by its very nature, eludes digital progress because it requires the physical presence of both actor and audience. The ‘here and now’ cannot be dematerialised. In this sense, it is an ancient form of communication. It is neither quick nor convenient, because you cannot order it to be delivered to your home or download it online as you would a film. Theatre, like everything that constitutes human connection, is a source of wellbeing.

A few days ago in Milan, there was a huge concert by Anyma, an Italian DJ and record producer. A massive LED wall displayed digital images set to digital music. It was a pre-programmed and synchronised audiovisual show where audio, video and lighting followed a timecode system that controlled everything. There were no singers, musicians or dancers on stage. However, in Milan there was one crucial detail that changed everything: beneath the immense LED wall stood a person – the DJ. He might just as well not have been there; his physical presence was not necessary for the performance; the concert would have gone ahead exactly the same even if he hadn’t been physically on stage. But for the audience, that detail completely changed the whole experience.

A single presence constitutes a dialogue, just as a teacher offers the opportunity for discussion. Can we imagine a future where schools operate like hotel check-ins? Enter your details, and a voice will guide you through the next steps… Nobody wants to play chess against a computer with computing power infinitely greater than that of our brains. We know that computers can calculate moves better than we can, but we carry on playing amongst ourselves, perhaps in the park with giant chess pieces, challenging a stranger. Imperfections are essential to our humanity: the human mind is fallible, and it is precisely this limitation that defines us. We are fragile; we make mistakes, we stumble, we grow old; time bestows complexity and beauty upon us, but it also drains our energy.

Mental illnesses arise from the suffering caused by isolation, a lack of care, and the inability to communicate and share. So: what role can culture play in shaping the future? The role of fostering sharing, education, relationships, citizenship and participation. Because a society in which you can participate is the only one that offers well-being for all. We did not build Italy’s theatres – of which there are so many – ourselves: we inherited them, and now it is up to us to nurture them. And we are so fortunate today to live in a democracy where these theatres belong to everyone.

The owner of the Teatro alla Scala building is the City of Milan. If it decided to let it out, it could make a great deal of money from it; instead, it offers it free of charge to a foundation. La Scala belongs to the people of Milan, just like all Italian opera houses and permanent theatres. So the primary task of culture is truly to ensure that they belong to everyone. And this is not just a matter of fair pricing policy. It is about renewing the language of art.

As well as hosting the repertoire, opera houses must produce works that tell today’s stories through today’s music. Beyond genre, beyond labels. Drama theatres must produce contemporary plays. The world of dance must open up its conventions to the most engaging and electrifying contemporary forms. This means cultivating, not merely inheriting. This means caring for the future.

The theatre is a home of democracy. We must not be afraid to demand that it upholds this function, which gave it its very reason for being. It is where words become history, where conflicts take shape, where Medea kills her children; where Antigone hangs herself out of a thirst for justice; where Titus Andronicus makes a meat pie out of the bodies of two men and serves it to their mother. Or where Mirandolina mocks the male ideal; where Figaro rebels against the nobleman’s tyranny; where the wretched Rigoletto weeps over his daughter’s death.

In the theatre, we laugh and we cry because it stems from the observation of human beings and is for human beings. For our frailties. Just as the Portuguese director Tiago Rodrigues managed to do so splendidly and movingly in his production “Il coro degli amanti”, recently seen at the Piccolo Teatro.

At first glance, it seems the perfect portrait of an utterly tedious evening: two actors who, for an hour, speak simultaneously, repeating the exact same words. Isabella Ragonese and Francesco Alberici stand on a virtually empty stage (two chairs and a kettle), facing the audience and telling the same story. Except that, apart from a few moments, the entire performance consists of a script that the two repeat together in unison. It sounds like the most tedious thing imaginable, yet this play has a power that captivates the audience, moves them and entertains them.

It doesn’t take much, and this is the theatre that captivates us most, where the invention of a code of communication makes that moment unique. The power of theatre lies entirely in those few square metres of stage that stand there showcasing its beauty, when it is brought to life by artists capable of offering a personal, lucid and candid vision.

Rodrigues is the director of the Avignon Festival, an event which this year featured 47 productions in its official programme, with around 40 per cent being world premieres. Avignon has built a huge cultural machine around public funding, with around 125,000 tickets sold and a budget in the region of 17 million euros. Where in Italy is there a venue that hosts and promotes theatre on this scale?

Finally, the opening question should be corrected and contextualised within the historical perspective of our country. The correct phrasing is as follows: what role can culture play in shaping the future in a country where people are not having children? The falling birth rate is a demographic phenomenon; but the ‘demographic crisis’ refers to a society’s difficulty in adapting its institutions to the consequences of that phenomenon. And that is what we are experiencing today. We are facing the challenge of having to change the rules, of having to strike new balances and reach new agreements. A 70-year-old’s view of the future is very different from that of a 20-year-old. Because the future belongs to those who imagine it.

Culture must understand and support the new society that is taking shape: citizenship, the rule of law and identity are not issues to be trivialised at a political rally; they are not electoral spoils. They are the most precious things we carry within us as human beings. A name, a language, a history. Once again, the stage has the task of telling this story.