The acclaimed Sicilian actress and director Emma Dante has dedicated her latest piece to the whores, «le pulle» as they are called in Palermo. Her «amoral operetta» presents us with a night in a Sicilian brothel: Five transvestites, accompanied by three fairies, talk about themselves, their bodies, their lives, their dreams and nightmares. Their stories are depressing, full of misery and violence, and bear witness to the very things that continue to dominate life in Sicily: the church, the mafia, tradition and poverty. «Le pulle» is a grotesque melange of music, dance, colour and poetry and an overpowering plea for the freedom of the individual. (ron)