Much like Deliveroo riders, Marica Mastromarino and Roberta Paolini ride their bikes through the streets of Milan with full backpacks, delivering on request to people at home. 

But instead of food, what Mastromarino and Paolini deliver is theater: those backpacks are full of stage props, and their menu – which looks a lot like a restaurant's – lists plays rather than plates.

The two actors have set up Teatro Delivery, and when customers place an order they get their drama delivered at home – or as close to home as COVID-19 restrictions allow.

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Mastromarino and Paolini perform the likes of Italian iconic writers such as Dante, Carlo Goldoni and Gianni Rodari to "heal the soul and prevent the abstinence of the heart," as they put it. 

They met each other when they were both working for the activists' group Brigata Franca Rame, delivering food to families in need in the city during the worst of the lockdown. Together with two other actors, they had the idea for Teatro Delivery, born out of the idea that theater is a basic necessity like food. 

"The analogy is clear: we bring another kind of food, just as necessary," explained Mastromarino. "So if it's allowed to deliver food by bike under lockdown restrictions, then we deliver another kind of food on our bikes."

The original project was created by Ippolito Chiarello, an actor who has traveled across Italy and Europe with his street theater project and has introduced a similar theater delivery service in his hometown of Lecce, in southern Italy.

"I've done street theater before," said Paolini. "This is theater in the street, which is a bit different."

To avoid risky gatherings and stick to COVID-19 guidelines, Mastromarino and Paolini put on their shows in courtyards, parks and hallways – wherever space and temperatures allow for it. 

"We're performing in the most unusual spaces – corners, little squares," said Paolini. "We've been on the terrace on the eighth floor of a building – basically on the rooftop."

With audiences of as few as two people, "it's not the same thing as being in front of a big audience, but you feel that same spark you feel on stage," Paolini added.

Mastromarino and Paolini also encourage their customers to make personal requests, allowing them to ask for a specific play that they are particularly attached to or have always wanted to see.

The magic of the stage can be reproduced even in these unusual settings, with nostalgic theater-goers forced home by the pandemic expressing the greatest gratitude at being offered this opportunity.

The only criticism has come from other colleagues, said Paolini. "It's true that what we're doing, we're not allowed to do. Marica and I are aware that this is an act of social disobedience. It's an act of protest."

Theaters in Italy have been closed since February 23 last year, with a brief reopening between June and October, a short moment of relief that Paolini said "can't really be counted."

On the same day this year, theater staff and actors will be joining a nationwide protest against the ongoing closure of the country's theaters and cinemas.

"If the situation stays the same [similar projects] will continue to multiply and explode," said Paolini. "If then the situation changes, the better for it."

_{Cover image: Daniel Alejandro Gencarelli}