REVIEW: The Bitter Fruits of Belonging in I Topi Non Avevano Nipoti

“Per fare tutto ci vuole un fiore” (to do anything you need a flower). So recites the matriarchal figure of I Topi Non Avevano Nipoti (The Mice Had No Grandchildren) in an extended funeral sequence mourning her son, who she seems to have smothered to death with her overbearing presence. She references a poem by Gianni Rodari, later put to music by Sergio Endrigo and transformed into one of the most famous Italian nursery rhymes. The absurd sequence captures a core contradiction explored in the play: how family norms can both create and constrict life, planting its seeds and containing its flourishing.