Bambino Mio: Bright Little Flame
Synopsis
On her seventieth birthday in wartime India, Maria Montessori, held under British restrictions as an enemy alien, works with her young assistant Githa on the story of her life. Their conversation moves through education, motherhood, freedom, empire, and the radical idea that peace begins with how adults treat children.
Characters
Narrator
Provides context and connective material.
Maria Montessori
70
Revolutionary physician and educator.
Githa
30
Montessori’s assistant, a native of Tamil Nadu.
Staging & Technical Requirements
Flexible and representational. The current script is set on the Theosophical Society grounds in Adyar, Chennai, and can be suggested with a small table, seating, and a few domestic objects. Sound, including ambient India, Victrola music, and wartime radio, can carry much of the world.