Toccando il vuoto (Touching the Void)

On Wednesday, 4 March 2026, at 9:00 p.m., the Teatro Ebe Stignani in Imola will stage the play Toccando il vuoto (Touching the Void).

Based on a true story, the play is set in 1985 during a climb in the Peruvian Andes, where mountaineers Joe Simpson and Simon Yates are victims of an accident during the descent, causing Joe to fall into a ravine. Simon, in order not to risk falling with his companion, is forced to cut the climbing rope. The story is set between the past and the present, between passion, guilt, friendship and resilience, in a time and space that constantly merge, leaving the audience with a constant question: 'What would we have done in Simon's place?

Climbing is what human beings do. They have been doing it for a hundred thousand years – it is what we did even before we were human, when we were just monkeys – we evolved by putting our hands on stones and branches, finding something to hold on to and pull ourselves up. It's not climbing that's strange, it's normal life that's strange: living in captivity, doing a job, sitting at a desk, sprawling on a sofa with empty eyes watching TV, jogging, mortgages, pointless conversations, civilisation... That's what's crazy, that's what's strange.

Author: Joe Simpson

Director: Silvio Peroni

Actors: Lodo Guenzi, Eleonora Giovanardi, Giovanni Anzaldo, Matteo Gatta

Duration: 1 hour and 40 minutes