Friday 17 October 2025 at 6 pm at the San Giuseppe Theater appointment with The archer is the target.
Lesson-show around Zen and archery in Eugen Herrigel
con Vito Mancusotheologian and Gabriele Goriaactor
original music and sound dramaturgy Simone Campa
ideation Armando Buonaiuto
thanks Adelphi Editions
Japan, 1924. Eugen Herrigel, a young German professor just appointed to the chair of philosophy at the Imperial University of Tohoku, wishes to get closer to Zen and is advised to do so through an art that has preserved its spirit for centuries: archery. Thus begins an internship that will force him to question not only his ideas, but his way of life. Herrigel first learns that his gestures are wrong, then that his intentions are wrong, until he discovers that the very things he relies on are the greatest obstacles: will, distinction between means and end, desire for success. Guided by master Awa Kenzo, he will try to strip himself of everything, until he accepts the perfect gesture: the one about which bow masters say: “one shot – a life”. While Gabriele Goria’s voice passes through Herrigel’s pages, Vito Mancuso collects his questions and doubts, offering us the account of a true apprenticeship in the void.
