At the Swiss Public Health Conference, held on 10–11 September 2025 and entitled “Mental Health and Wellbeing”, which focuses on investing in mental wealth, the organisers entrusted the Applied Psychology Competence Centre of the Department of Business Economics, Health and Social Sciences (DEASS) of SUPSI, the Sociotherapy Department of the Cantonal Sociopsychiatric Organisation, Club '74, and the Concreta Teatro theatre company with staging a site-specific performance as an integral part of the congress activities.
The preparation and staging of the performance were a collaborative effort that involved all the partners, beginning with the identification of sensitive issues relating to mental health. The Applied Psychology Competence Centre of DEASS-SUPSI, the members of Club '74, and the social therapy practitioners involved shared their experiences, thoughts, and reflections. Gradually, the performance took shape thanks to the work of the director, Diego Willy Corna, who wrote the script, with further contributions from the whole group. The participatory approach made the process dynamic and evolving until the final result was achieved.
The title of the play emerged during the production and rehearsals: “…a quel paese” [“to that country”]. The idea of describing health, illness, well-being, and normality as “different countries” was inspired by a quote from Susan Sontag, in which the journalist refers to daytime passports (health) and night-time passports (illness), which everyone possesses and uses throughout their lives. In this way—ironic, paradoxical, almost dreamlike—we are invited to reflect on the relationship between the night-time territories of illness and the daytime territories of health, as well as on the factors that influence processes of marginalisation and stigmatisation.
Two “countries” — and perhaps two or more languages to speak — with the risk that, between the regions of light and darkness, between the nation of “feeling good” and that of “feeling bad,” there may be no communication, no relationship, no encounter. The languages differ: their grammars diverge, and their words shift in meaning, often preventing understanding. We are citizens of both countries, yet we often ignore the language of one, or forget it when we move from one to the other. Those who remain there then become distant, incomprehensible, unapproachable — silent presences from another world that, in truth, belongs deeply to us all. This image of language as a concrete element of separation between the two regions serves as a reminder of the need to educate ourselves and society to foster inclusion and prevent marginalisation.
The central themes address the experiences of illness, well-being, and normality; the contrasts between health and illness; the processes of marginalisation; and the progressive loss of citizenship. Yet they also highlight the substantial universality of these worlds, which ultimately belong to everyone. Alongside the passports of health and illness, there may be a third passport: that of well-being, a kind of pass for both realms. It dispels the shadow of normality that excludes, while also challenging the illusion that well-being can exist only in the presence of health. Well-being thus emerges as a dimension through which the dichotomies suggested by Sontag’s passports — as if they were alternative and exclusive universes — can be overcome.
Coordination of theoretical content and preparatory/introductory work: Lorenzo Pezzoli
Team of operators for managing work and content: Mauro Durini, Valentino Garrafa, Valentina Poletti, Federica Coiro.
Operational and institutional coordination: Valentino Garrafa
Coordination of Club '74 members: Valentina Poletti
Directed by: Diego Willy Corna
Consultants for translations and adaptations into English, French and German: Eliana Cereghetti, Serena Moratti, Shoghig Brianza
On stage: Manuela Cattola, Eliana Cereghetti, Federica Coiro, Serena Moratti, Valentina Poletti, Consuelo Rigamonti, Ernesto Rodriguez Ramos