<p>Alcide Cervi was a farmer. In 1934 he moved with his family to Gattatico, near Reggio Emilia, on a piece of land called Campirossi ("red fields"), which nobody wanted because it was infertile. He lives there with his nine children: seven boys and two girls. With hard work, they manage to make these fields prosper, and the family can afford to buy a tractor. The Cervi family is known for their anti-fascist political positions. After July 1943, when the Americans landed and Mussolini was arrested, all seemed well. But in November of the same year, a hundred fascists besieged the Campirossi house. The seven brothers try to resist, but they are arrested and eventually executed. As a sign of support and respect, Alcide Cervi never ceased to receive gifts from all sides: a Bible from the Fiat factory workers in Turin, a globe from the agricultural cooperative workers in Santa Vittoria, skittles for his grandchildren from some friends of the boules club. Finally, the puppeteer himself, Maurizio Bercini, wants to give Alcide a gift: a puppet with his features, with which he can transform pain 'into serenity and play'.<br /></p>

Object theatre

Rod puppet

Direct Manipulation Bunraku-type Puppetry

All audiences

Allegri Marina

Italy

Parma

Electronic text

Fratelli Cervi

Cervi, Alcide

Resistance

Resistance fighter

Partisan struggle

Politics

Execution

Fascism

Murder

Brother

Large family

Family

Communism

Friendship

Community

Farming

Animated object

Gift

Didactic

Realist

Italian

I doni di papà Cervi

Musician

Alcide Cervi

Puppeteer

Story

Narrative Theater

Alternating narrative / dialogue

Address to the public

Narrator

Inserting poetry

Avista

Caricature

Dialogue with the audience

Murder on stage

Cide

Cide. Father Cervi's gifts