Force
We are back in our Italian home for the summer. The polluted cloud wrapping Beijing – where even a sunny day looks anaemic – has been replaced by the stunning colours of the Le Marche countryside.
Hong Ying and I are here to work – to get on and write our novels in the peace and quiet of this tranquil, old hill town – but Italy, particularly in the summer, is a seductress.
From our windows we can look over the Val D’Aso plain to see the dark blue line of the Adriatic and the tempting beaches. The snow streaked mountains behind us offer walks.
And even in our small town of Force the artisans and craftsmen are preparing for the festivals of July and August.
From our house we can hear the gentle tapping of a hammer on bronze. Once Force boasted 1000 bronze makers. Now the last master of this traditional trade is patiently tapping out his exquisite wares – pots, jugs, plates, carvings – designed for ancient fire places in ancient houses. And just down the street Pacifico the village blacksmith fashions elegant railings and bed frames on the same anvil his great grandfather used a hundred years ago.
Down in the valley Francesco the house painter and his friend Angelo, general handyman and life and soul behind every activity in the town, are bottling their own wine in a stone shed attached to the former Mayor’s house. Angelo’s sister, Tiziana, is Francesco’s partner and when she is not working for the district Tourism Office, she is the Impresario of Force. Working closely with the Mayor, she has organised every concert, every piece of theatre or lecture Force has hosted for the last ten years. There is no need to go elsewhere for concerts in the summer. They take place in the town’s piazzas.
Recently with the arrival of Don Claudio, a dynamic new priest, there have been even more ambitious events, every Christmas a Nativity and every Easter a Passion. These grand spectacles involve almost the whole community and wend their way through every street.
And these are on top of all the usual religious processions that wind through the town on Saint’s Days, singing hymns.
Force is quiet now, but the next month the festivals begin.
The town band is rehearsing.
The last copper beater in Force
Angelo and Francesco with their wine
Hong Ying outside the winery
Ballerinas in the Piazza
Via Dolorosa – Force Passion Play 2011
Don Claudio playing a Pharisee – Force Passion Play 2011
The crucifixion – Force Passion Play 2011
Carrying the cross – religious procession 2012
Townsfolk accompanying the statue of Force’s very own Beata, Maria Assumpta Pallotta
The Force Band
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