“If you ask people in Turin about the workers at Thyssen, they’ll point to the cemetery.” Just over one month had gone by since the tragedy on the night between 5th and 6th December 2007, at the Turin factory of the German metalworking corporation, where seven workers died in the flames. Ezio Mauro, also from Turin and editor-in-chief of La Repubblica, went back to being a reporter for a long feature which was published by the newspaper on 11th January 2008.

It is a long work of reporting, passionate while remaining true to the objectiveness of journalism, where the memories of a survivor from the factory fire, Giovanni Pignalosa, merge with descriptions of Turin, the driving force behind Italian industrial development, and where – as in the rest of the country – workers seem to have become invisible. Now, the newspaper report has been turned into a sound performance, directed by Pietro Babina and with Ezio Mauro himself taking centre stage.

The former editor-in-chief will feature in the role of himself, as narrator and journalist, as part of a setting where the voices of the witnesses will be interpreted by actors Umberto Orsini and Alba Rohrwacher. Their recorded performance will be added to the musical score, also by Babina with the composer and musician Alberto Fiori, and their voices will merge music with the sounds of the city.

“Thyssen. Sound Performance” premiered on 25 March 2015 as part of Biennale Democrazia, at the Teatro Regio in Turin. To mark the tenth anniversary of the tragic fire, president Laura Boldrini hosted the show on December 3, 2017, in her government chambers, as part of the show Montecitorio Opens its Doors.

Production from 2015-2017

Photo Spoleto © Fondazione Festival dei Due Mondi ONLUS / Photo ML Antonelli/AGF