ridi ridi che la mamma ha fatto I gnocchi is part of a research project that takes the opera Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo. Drawn to the deconstruction of canonical works and, in this particular case, encountering a narrative rooted in the popular, carnal, tragicomic, and metalinguistic dimensions, Ivaldi begins a research process on the tension arising from the juxtaposition of the opera with contemporaneity — in search of the unexpected connections she so deeply values — and how, within this interplay, the audience is confronted with discomfort through a hybrid device.

In this research residency, she turns her focus to the triviality of the clown archetype — the veteran narrator — as a way to reflect on who tells a story, and how.