Alfredino, Italy in a Deep Well

This event is part of
In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY 2025

Theatrical Performance
Alfredino, Italy in a Deep Well

Written & Performed by
Fabio Banfo

Directed by
Serena Piazza

Presented by Centro Teatrale MaMiMò

Best direction Fersen Award 2021
Best show and best dramaturgy Doit Festival Rome 2017

On the evening of June 10, 1981 six year old Alfredo (Alfredino) Rampi fell 36 meters deep into a well in Vermicino, a village near Rome. In the next 35 hours, Italy was glued to the TV watching the first non-stop live broadcast to cover the attempt to save him. It was a turning point in the history of Italian TV, which is still studied in journalism schools and where the modern sensationalist way of dealing with news was born. Fabio Banfo brings the story back to life, introducing in his solo show the many characters that filled that night: the first journalist who rushed to the scene, the sandwich seller who profited from the attending crowd, President Pertini, the robots Mazinga and Grendizer, which Alfredino was passionate about, the policeman who spoke with him for hours to try to reassure him and give him hope, Angelo Licheri, who remained for forty minutes hanging upside down in the well, trying to save the child. At the core of the narration there is Alfredino, in that deep well together with the entire country.

In Italian with English Supertitles

Running Time: 60 min