Review of the show "6 Gradi" by Giobbe Covatta at the Troisi Theater

Job Covatta wonders what would happen to the Earth if the temperature rose by 6 degrees and does so with irony and irreverence

What would happen if our body temperature increased by 6 degrees ? Our bodies would certainly not be able to cope with the change and would cease to function.

The same thing would happen, and is happening, to our planet if there were a temperature increase of such magnitude. And that's exactly what Giobbe Covatta wants to convey with his new play, "Sei gradi," on stage at the Teatro Troisi in Naples until February 23, 2014.

Faithful to numerical quotations for some years now , Giobbe Covatta once again refers to a number (after “7”, the deadly sins, and “30”, the articles of the Charter of Human Rights) to raise awareness among his audience on a fundamental issue such as global warming.

Through the language of theater and comedy, and to a careful and precise scientific disclosure, the Neapolitan actor therefore wants to continue his committed path and does so withirony andirreverence that distinguish it.
With the expedient of a future setting (his character lives in 2114) he hypothesizes what could happen to the Earth if the temperature increases by 1 degree every twenty years or so, up to the "6 degrees" that give the show its title .

In order to do so, Covatta does not neglect the great themes of our actuality, indeed it is precisely through them that we ask how our posterity could live in a future increasingly dominated by technology and from the worsening of the political and economic situation.
In this way, through the experiences and the bizarre inventions of our descendants, we are able to imagine the future scenarios that humanity will be able to face if adequate measures are not taken.

Naturally, the show's jokes spare no one: politicians who are thieves and out of touch with people's problems, the ever-worsening public health system, the decay of the Church 's values , a job market that no longer offers opportunities, and distrust of those who are different.

Although some of his jokes delve into topics that stray a bit from the main theme, Covatta manages to engage his audience , who are almost always engaged and entertained. Through some of his songs or, for example, by inviting a spectator up on stage, Covatta always manages to get a laugh out of the audience.

In this way, almost taking them by the hand, he leads them into increasingly less fun and carefree reflections: what are we doing for the future of our children and grandchildren? Will they be able to forgive us for how we're treating the planet? Once we reach the fateful 6-degree rise, the Earth will no longer be able to support human survival... how can we avoid all this?

Thus, as the show draws to a close, the laughter gradually turns into bitter smiles . Because, having come to the realization that man cannot survive without the planet, but the planet can survive without man ... the question everyone is inevitably forced to ask, as the curtain falls, is: why?