How The Teacher Really Works

The performance How the Teacher Really Works is based on the picture book of the same name, written by Susanna Mattiangeli and illustrated by Chiara Carrera. The set is an empty classroom – brimming with anticipation and imagination – where the pupils, through exploration and their own perceptions, try to find out who the teacher is. The story captures that delicate period of starting school and the many questions that arise when entering an unfamiliar environment.

As the school door opens, we step into a classroom for the very first time – yellow neckerchief and all. A new world to foster imagination. What will take place here? And what will we be like when we leave in a few years’ time? Chairs and desks line the room. A large blackboard hangs on the wall. Above it, a clock ticks, counting down the moments until she arrives – the teacher.

But who is the teacher, exactly? How do we picture this person who will remain in our memory long after our school days are over? Even before she arrives, countless images and expectations take shape in our minds.

A teacher can take many forms. Before she is physically present in the classroom, she appears in various guises. She might jump out of a drawing on the blackboard, assemble herself on an abacus, or be present only as a sound. As we wait, we wonder where she might be hiding. And in that waiting, we begin to step into the teacher’s role ourselves, trying to understand who she really is.