How am I supposed to manage? I’m thirteen, and the nutritionist has already told me, “Riccardo, you must go on a diet…” How, then, am I meant to kiss the most beautiful girl in school? More to the point—how could she ever fancy me, when the very first time I saw her, on the coach during the school trip, I threw up all over her?
Anna isn’t just the prettiest girl in our state middle school. No, Anna is the most beautiful girl in any state middle school in the whole of Italy. No, more than that: in the world.
And yet, when Anna looks in the mirror, she can’t stand herself. Because, unlike the other girls in our class who already look like young women, Anna still resembles a little girl. Perhaps that’s why she hasn’t had her first kiss yet. And as for me, I’ve never kissed a girl either. Not because I don’t want to. But because girls don’t want to kiss me.
They all want to kiss Edoardo. Because Edoardo is stunning. He’s so handsome that every girl wants to kiss him, and he, in turn, wants to kiss every girl on the planet. This is how Edoardo goes about it: he sends me to speak to them. And each time, I must say the exact same line. I’ve said it so many times I now know it by heart.
And the girls always say yes. And whenever they say yes, a small part of me feels glad. But today, I don’t feel glad at all. Because today, that same line, the one I’ve memorized, the one I’ve repeated so often? Today I must say it to Anna. Riccardo is left with very little of love: those little red pizza slices, the sound of certain phrases learnt by heart, and Anna. Love, for Riccardo, is like chewing gum, a sticky, shapeless mass of spit, sugar, and strawberry-flavoured excitement with a hint of emulsifiers… and, in the end, all you can do is spit it out.
Director Biography – ARIANNA DI STEFANO
She graduated in Acting from the Accademia Nazionale d’Arte Drammatica Silvio D’Amico in 2013. In 2015, she undertook the Theatre Masterclass at the Teatro di Roma, followed in 2016 by the international Masterclass École des Maîtres under the direction of Christiane Jatahy. She was awarded the Nuovo IMAIE Prize for Best Performer at the 61st Spoleto Festival. In 2020, she founded the theatre company Kontra Moenia, for which she serves as both director and playwright. That same year, she was selected as a finalist director for Biennale College 2020 at La Biennale di Venezia. In 2021, she attended SCRITTURE, the School of Dramaturgy led by Lucia Calamaro. The following year, she received the award for Best Direction at the Teatri Riflessi Festival. In 2023, she pursued a Master’s in Film Directing at the Scuola Civica di Cinema Luchino Visconti in Milan. In 2024, she was awarded the Nuovo IMAIE grant for her debut film as a director, Love and Chewing-gum. Elle est diplômée en art dramatique de l’Académie Nationale d’Art Dramatique Silvio D’Amico en 2013. En 2015, elle suit un master de théâtre au Teatro di Roma, puis en 2016, le master international École des Maîtres sous la direction de Christiane Jatahy. Elle remporte le Prix Nuovo IMAIE de la meilleure interprétation au 61e Festival de Spoleto.
