Testa di legno

On Sunday 12 April 2026 at 4.00 pm at the Laura Betti Municipal Theatre in Casalecchio di Reno (BO), the children’s show Testa di legno will be performed.

“Once upon a time… there was a king,” my young readers will immediately think. But no! Once upon a time… there was a puppet? Not even that.”

Once upon a time, there was a carpenter who one day decided to build a wooden puppet with which he would travel the world putting on shows and which, later on, would become the ‘staff of his old age’. That was the plan, but Pinocchio – as the wooden puppet was called – one day did not come home. Geppetto – as the old carpenter was called – searched for him over land and sea, more sea than land, until he found himself in the belly of a shark.

And then? What happened next? Well, this is where our story begins. You must know that Geppetto didn’t lose heart and, having plenty of free time, decided to use it to become a better father. A unique perspective on the complex world of parenthood, amid difficult choices and lurking dangers, disappointed expectations and unexpected joys. But above all, on the difficulty of accepting one’s own mistakes.

Recommended age: 7–11 years

Duration: 50 mins

Starring Giovanni Dispenza

Text by Caterina Bartoletti

Directed by Giovanni Dispenza and Giulia Franzaresi