Our review of A train to Milan: immediate boarding

Sentenced to life imprisonment, his eyes fixed on the photograph of his son Paolo, the man tells him where he comes from. His name is Marcello Saraccino. At 18, accompanied by his best friend, he left his native Calabria for Milan with the hope of finding a job and escaping poverty.

He only has an hour to spare. Afterwards, according to a tradition established by the director of the establishment, he will be presented to the crowd and will plead his case in an attempt to be released. The objective will be achieved if she applauds him. Otherwise, he will remain locked up. In “ twelve years, five months and three days,” no detainee has been able to get out.

Author with Christophe Gand, François Feroleto performs and directs this personal show which he developed based on the life story of his father, a southern Italian, and texts by Dino Buzzati. Well measured, the mixture takes place on the small stage of the Théâtre de la Huchette.

Dark eyes, expressive face, disheveled hair, in loose shirt and pants, the actor brings a battered existence back to life. Marcello suffered from the absence of his father, a renowned conductor who played Brahms. When he arrives in Milan, he faces the locals' rejection of emigrants and meets a strange man.

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“His desire to succeed will have been too great and he will burn himself in a fire that he thought he had mastered but which is beyond him,” explains François Feroleto. And when the uprooted person returns home and finds his mother and his sister, he feels that he is “no longer really from here and not really from there”. “Too late”, repeats the unmistakable voice of Michel Bouquet in off-screen. Disappeared in 2022, the actor tells a spooky story by Dino Buzatti. François Feroleto venerates him: he starred alongside him in Ronald Harwood's À torts et à raison.

The boundary between real and unreal becomes blurred, the play shifts into a tale. Haunted by the fate of his father, François Feroleto interprets his character with a faith that screams truth. Songs by Adriano Celentano and Paolo Conte accentuate the impression of following him into a distant world. The actor hopes to attract to the theater those who have never been there, he should succeed in granting his wish with this one-on-stage. He himself, at 19, decided to be an actor after discovering “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke.

A Train to Milan, at the Théâtre de la Huchette (Paris 5th), until December 2. Loc. : 01 43 26 38 99.

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