The One and The Many is a stylized, playfully constructed documentary feature, exploring the unlikely collaboration between acclaimed theatre artist Armando Punzo, and one of Italy's oldest, most beloved, incarcerated theatre troupes, Compagnia della Fortezza at Volterra Prison. The film captures the profoundly transformative process of Punzo's work with actor-inmates-most of whom have never performed prior to incarceration-to produce whimsical, witty, and satirical experimental plays, incorporating elements of traditional Italian theatre. Punzo's and the inmates' dedication not only benefits the inmates, but also the guards, the public, and the prison system. The existence and success of Compagnia della Fortezza brings important and new meaning to collaboration, and to prison rehabilitation. This is a tale of hope, blossoming from an unlikely setting.
