The Rule Of Thirds
April 22nd at 9:30PM | April 23rd at 9:30PM | April 25th at 3:00PM | April 26th at 3:00PM | April 30th at 7:00PM | May 2nd at 7:00PM | May 6th at 7:00PM | May 15th at 9:30PM
Kairos Italy Theater

Playwright: Marco De Simone
Director: Montgomery Sutton
With Ben Natan*, Greg Horton*
Stage Manager: Zoe Loveless
Assistant Director: Nikki Monson,
Set Design: Sarah Edkins
Costume Design: Barbara Erin Delo
Light Design: Adrian Yuen
Sound Design: Kellen Voss
Mentor: Debora Balardini

*Appearing through an Agreement between Kairos Italy Theater and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the US

Presented by Kairos Italy Theater and the TANK NYC as part of the Emerging Directors’ Mentorship at In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY 2026

La regola dei terzi is inspired by a real event recounted in the autobiography of Robert Capa. Southeastern Sicilian hinterland, at dawn on Saturday, July 10, 1943. A farmer welcomes war photojournalist Robert Capa into his farmhouse after he parachuted onto the island the night before the Allied landing. Their dialogue highlights the photographer’s strong personality and his wealth of anecdotes, shaped by firsthand experience in war zones. In the background, the farmer becomes the voice of the “thirds”—the vast mass of civilians who remain outsiders to the warring factions. Like the photographic rule suggests, these individuals demand to be brought into focus to tell another story—their own—hidden beneath the Grand Historical Narrative. The rule of thirds by Marco De Simone, translated by Caterina Nonis, is the winner of the In Scena! Playwright 2025.

Marco De Simone (Salerno, 1992) is an author, actor and musician. A graduate of the Conservatory in Classical Guitar and a master’s degree in Philosophy, he has been writing for the theater since 2016. His texts “It Never Happened” and “The Smell of the Moon” have received national awards; his show “We, Puppets,” in which he is also a performer, has been performed more than 40 times in Italy and abroad. He has 4 musicals to his credit and numerous collaborations with contemporary theater and dance companies, for which he has written stage music, scripts and adaptations.