Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May at 9.00 pm in the “Vito Trapani” auditorium of the “Carpe Diem” artistic workshop
the mission of the Marsala trade unionist Vito Pipitone killed by the mafia in 1947 will be represented.
The narrator will be his wife, Filippa Di Dia, played by Adriana Parrinello who will bring to the stage facts, feelings and conditions of a Marsala that has just emerged from the Second World War. An intimate and sincere monologue in Sicilian, written by Chiara Putaggio, directed by Francesco Stella and music by Gregorio Caimi. The provincial coordinator of Libera Salvatore Inguì will also speak. Filippa loved her husband’s hands, his hands of a “strange” farmer who knew how to read, knew his impetus and stubbornness and shared with him the ideal of social justice and like him she knew well that “u saziu unnu u cunzidera a chiddro a diuno”. On Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May at 9.00 pm in the “Vito Trapani” auditorium of the “Carpe Diem” artistic workshop, in via Armando Diaz n.2, the mission of Vito Pipitone, a Marsala Federterra trade unionist killed by the mafia, will come to life in 1947.
Vito will be shown through the eyes and feelings of his wife, Filippa Di Dia, who will thus tell of a love, or rather, two: that of a woman for her life partner and that of the righteous for honesty and equal rights. “…And I loved him”, is a one-act play written by Chiara Putaggio, performed by Adriana Parrinello with direction by Francesco Stella and music by Gregorio Caimi.
“We chose the date of May 23rd certainly not by chance. On the day of commemoration of the assassination of judge Giovanni Falcone we wanted to give a sign of proximity. The mafia, evil, dishonesty strike everywhere and Marsala has also experienced this pain. The expression “victim of the mafia” usually refers to those who are killed, but those who indirectly suffer this violence are also victims, those who remain, those who have loved, those who still love, those who are shocked by a loss that transforms their life forever and the lives of his family – explains the author Chiara Putaggio –. About 14 years ago I met Antonio Pipitone, son of Vito and Filippa. I promised him that I would write his story. This is how this work was born. Then two years ago, on the occasion of the first staging, within the ‘a Scurata’ exhibition, I learned that Pietro Pipitone was Vito’s eldest son. I had known him since I was little but I had no idea about his personal history. I believe that our territory must know the story of Vito Pipitone. Memory is a duty and a gift.”
“Carpe Diem – explain Fabio Gandolfo and Gregorio Caimi (author of the music) – cultivates growth opportunities for the territory through various art forms. Theater is one of these and doing it by telling ‘our’ story is a choice that fits well with our mission: to reflect and grow in awareness, cultivating community opportunities and promoting beauty”.
“The story of Vito Pipitone has been buried in oblivion for decades, only for about 15 years, thanks to Libera (the Marsala garrison is named after the Marsala trade unionist) has it been made known to the citizens and the place where it is has also been identified a commemorative stele arose – says Salvatore Inguì, provincial coordinator of Libera –. But above all, Libera made sure that the family did not feel abandoned. But despite everything Vito Pipitone is still known by a niche of people and is not adequately commemorated. This play, which focuses on the human and at the same time heroic perspective, is an example of how to remember. It is not just an anniversary, but it is to remember a union way of working, a way of representing the world of the poor, of workers who struggle to survive and have the right to have their rights respected. It is also a bold work because at a time when we tend towards historical revisionism and tend to make the sacrifice of many in vain, this work restores the human and heroic sacrifice of this fellow citizen of ours”.
“Filippa is a living symbol of those who fight for justice and truth – says director Francesco Stella –. Symbol of those who have not “simply” overcome the pain, because certain pains are never overcome, but have overcome it, making their life a concrete testimony of commitment to the fight against all mafias”.
In the one-act play “…And I loved him”, a theatrical text in Sicilian, the speaker is the wife of Vito Pipitone, a trade unionist from Marsala of the Federterra (CGIL at the time) who was killed by a rifle shot on 8 November 1947 to the stomach. The following day he would have given life to a peasant demonstration for the subdivision and assignment of the Judeo fiefdom to farmers, in execution of the Gullo law, according to which the uncultivated lands should have been divided among the labourers. But the new rule met with dissent from landowners and the mafia. Vito was killed while, on his bicycle, he was going to visit his mother. He left behind his wife Filippa and four children. From that night Filippa’s life changed radically. The one-act retraces their life together, Filippa’s love for her husband, her dedication to “those hands that although “burned by lu suli e cu l’ugna nivure”, she loved so much. In the background a post-war Marsala, made like a patch work blanket where each district is a piece of a different colour, reminiscent of the American bombing, following which the ‘nfami looted among the rubble and then became allies of the campieri, of the mafiosi.
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