Millennial Notes

Dacia Maraini Seduces with Longings for Romantic Rapture

by Corey Finnegan

There’s a reason we call it “falling” in love. Not “rising” or “expanding” or “resetting.” Anyone who has fallen in love knows that it is a glorious folly. In truth, the only thing worse than falling in love is never knowing the sweet pain of total, helpless devotion to another equally fallible yet somehow transcendent human.

Dacia Mariani’s “Lettere D’Amore” (Letters of Love”) is a one-woman play about the mystery and nobility of the human heart. Mariani explores the melancholy joy of secret love affairs and frustrated desires. Or, she says, “Love is the greatest of sorrows.”

Actor Francesca Fanti delivers a pitch perfect performance as a woman discovering a batch of her late mother’s love letters, written by a man other than her father. Mara, the daughter, knows nothing about the man.

Indeed, Fanti’s acting is so believable that I was entirely fooled into thinking this one-woman show was her own personal memoir. And besides being a fabulous actor, Fanti’s soft voice and charming Italian accent lends itself quite well to the language of love. After all, Italian must be the most romantic of the Romance Languages.

The mystery lover writes sensuous and romantic letters to her mother, Barbara, describing a woman her daughter scarcely recognizes. “Who were you?” she asks, as the letters reveal a side of her “Mama” that is utterly foreign to her. This woman is far more complicated and sympathetic than the mother she knew.

After reading her mother’s secret lover describing her as having skin like “soft velvet,” Fanti is dumbstruck. “Soft velvet? You were made of iron, mama!”

And therein lies a clue to the seductive nature of falling in love. Under Love’s spell, we see with new eyes. While some might claim our vision is distorted by rose-colored glasses, perhaps by seeing the deeper beauty in someone, we help bring that beauty forth.

”Letters of Love” suggests our power to love is an act of courageous rebellion against the tyranny of drudgery and self-sacrifice. Because we all need a little love.

They say “San Francisco is for lovers.” Well, “Lettere D’Amore” is a play for lovers. And if you aren’t in love, Fanti’s wonderful performance will make you wish you were. And maybe, in some magical way, your deepest desires will find fulfillment.

“Lettere D’Amore” (Letters of Love) by Dacia Maraini, performed & directed by Francesca Fanti, at The Marsh, San Francisco. Info: themarsh.org – to December 15, 2024.

Cast: Francesca Fanti.

Banner photo: Francesca Fanti. Photos by Mario Sabatini