Stories of Eggs and Flour - A theatre piece by and with Gaia Mencagli

Thanks to eggs, flour, and an apron, Rosa tastes one more time the scent of her life. She travels in time, and the space around her transforms. Between handfuls of flour, Rosa relives some of the most significant moments of her life, accompanied by music, objects, and people from that time.

She goes through the times of the second world war and those of a child in the house of rich people. A moment later she is a mature woman in the countryside, then a young lover, and finally she becomes the grandmother, Nonna Rosa. All this while making fettuccine.

The seed for Stories of Eggs and Flour, an original solo show by and with Gaia Mencagli, was planted in 2018 during a storytelling project, and back then it was called Nonna Rosa. When the world shut down in spring 2020 and we were all forced into isolation, Rosa started making pasta again, again, and again until she found her way to an audience the 13th of December 2021 in Trieste. Since then the show was performed in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and various Italian Cities.

This show is made possible with the support of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Los Angeles and Pappalecco.

Suggested donation is $25

Gaia Mencagli is an Italian-Danish theater artist, trained at the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre in California after studying in Denmark and Italy. From 2018 to 2020, she lived in Minneapolis, where she performed, taught, and developed her first solo piece, “It’s Red!”. After moving to Trieste in 2021, she collaborated with Hangar Teatri, debuting with “Stories of Eggs and Flour” and teaching theater. She continued her artistic research through residencies at the Grotowski Institute in Poland, CSS in Udine, and TRAC in Puglia, and has completed a two-year training in Danza Sensibile. As a puppeteer at Teatro Stabile del F.V.G., she brings puppet theater to schools and performs in regional and international tours. She is also co-founder of the non-profit KER, creating projects that merge art and agriculture in Lazio. Although based in Italy, she maintains international collaborations, performing at the H.C. Andersen Festival in Denmark and touring the United States thanks to the Italian Cultural Institutes.