November 1989

Laura and Francesca are two little girls, 8 and 10 years old, when the end of the PCI threatens to destroy the world they have always lived in. Their families, one in Bologna and the other in Rome, are communists, members of the PCI, supporters of civil battles. Their lives, between 1980s pop culture and political militancy, are made up of attempts to emulate the television dancers, first demonstrations, Canale 5 – a Berlusconi’s TV channel – cartoons, difficult speeches by adults, fights at school and Party celebrations (known as “Festa dell’Unità”). The collapse of the Berlin Wall, followed by the “Svolta della Bolognina” (when the PCI national secretary Achille Occhetto proposed the dissolution of the Communist Party), marked a moment of strong confusion and vulnerability amongst adults. This bewilderment makes the two girls perceive the imminent end of something to which they feel they belong to.

After more than thirty years, Laura and Francesca meet an illustrious Spectre who roams the theatre and wants to be avenged… But what has happened in the meantime to the world, to communism and to Italy?

As they sink their hands into the events of the Days that Shook their World, their family memories mixes with historical one, recollections, and they remember that communism was born out of the profound impetus of a vision of a new world made of ideals of solidarity, justice and equality, for a new humanity free from blackmail and exploitation. What remains of all this?


written and staged by Francesca Romana Di Santo and Laura Pizzirani
technique Camila Chiozza
a production Le Cerbottane
in collaboration with Ateliersi, POLIS Teatro Festival
with the support of Angelo Ma, Collectif 36bis
and the contribution of Archivio Fondazione Gramsci Emilia-Romagna

duration 1h


Le Cerbottane are a punk vaudeville group founded in 2021 by Laura Pizzirani and Francesca Romana Di Santo, actresses and performers with different backgrounds but both with experience in devised theatre and collective creation. Their first artistic collaboration is in the project Tutto il Nostro Folle Amore, a theatre collective born during the occupation of Teatro Valle: a work on the present, where styles and languages are mixed, as well as biographical material and interviews, performative investigations, physical scores in urban space, favouring interaction with the audience, the choice for non-theatre spaces and the involvement of musicians and video makers.