Bar Sport Chatter

"It is perfectly useless for a bar to have a good billiard table if it doesn’t have a good village idiot."

Stefano Benni

Bar Sport is the hilarious catalogue of heroes now crowned with the aura of myth, the personal comedie humaine of Stefano Benni. A world that seems to have disappeared — rickety pinball machines, chats among regulars, pastries displayed behind the counter, swaggering bravado — yet still survives here and there, in places that have preserved that atmosphere, that instinct for quick wit, easy nicknames and surreal exaggeration so typical of Bologna.

Bars that preserve a collective memory, dormant yet still alive.

One year after Benni’s passing, we imagined bringing those stories back to life, setting them exactly where they were born: suburban bars that still retain the flavour of another time.

Bars where the hours drift by slowly, accompanied by glasses of wine, coffee and conversations between the counter and the tables. Bars where Bologna FC pennants hang slightly faded, where pinball machines have become decorative relics, where customers keep each other company commenting on the news of the day with irony and disenchanted humour.

Bars where even today it might happen that a customer arrives, sits down, orders a bianchetto and begins telling the people around him, out loud, the story of the Luisona — the mummified pastry winking at the unsuspecting customer —; of the crooked sign straightened thanks to the ingenuity of a regular; of the kid asking for an ice cream cone as tall as the Two Towers; of the enchanting cashier who seduces the shy accountant only to instantly fall for the baker’s muscles; of the technnician (with two “n”s) explaining the national team lineup; of Cenerutolo, the dishwasher dreaming of becoming a waiter; of Piva, the footballer with a thunderous shot.

There, in the sweltering heat of summer in the city, we imagined generating small hallucinations.

Characters stepping out from the pages of Benni and gaining body and voice thanks to actors and storytellers who have always had that style of narration in their blood: Giorgio Comaschi, Giuseppe Attanasio, Maurizio Cardillo, Umberto Fiorelli, Filippo Pagotto, Tita Ruggeri, Andrea Santonastaso.

We imagined them appearing like pop-ups, at different times of the day, leaning against counters or among outdoor tables, between people drinking and playing cards, telling the stories Benni left us as a legacy.

Not frontal performances, but brief, unexpected incursions, scattered throughout the city’s neighbourhoods.

Appearances lasting ten or fifteen minutes that enter the real life of bars, blend into it and transform it for a moment into shared literature.

An irresistible invitation for all of us to become extras and relive, at least for a moment, that bygone time.

Schedule:

Stefano Benni’s stories therefore return to the city’s bars through short and unexpected theatrical incursions. Between a coffee, a card game and a glass of wine, actors and storytellers suddenly appear in the venues, transforming everyday bar life into shared literature for a few minutes.

For five days, from June 5 to 10, 2026, throughout the morning, afternoon and evening, the characters of Bar Sport will appear unexpectedly in bars across the city through short theatrical incursions lasting 10–15 minutes.

Each day will move through three different bars, with a rotation of actors and performances coordinated by Giorgio Comaschi and Filippo Pagotto, who will guide the audience into the atmosphere of the project.

The audience may stumble upon the stories while stopping for a coffee, enjoying an aperitivo or heading home in the evening: just as in Benni’s stories, everything will begin in an apparently casual way.

A project by Mismaonda for Bologna Estate 2026, featuring Giorgio Comaschi, Giuseppe Attanasio, Maurizio Cardillo, Umberto Fiorelli, Filippo Pagotto, Tita Ruggeri, Andrea Santonastaso.

Participating bars: Bar Billi, Bar Lunette, Bar Edera, Bar Ciccio, Bar Bello.

June 5

• Bar Billi — 11:00 am / 12:30 pm / 2:30 pm - Via Pietro de Coubertin, 1b, 40134 Bologna
• Bar Lunette — 4:00 pm / 6:00 pm / 9:00 pm - Via Gaspare Nadi, 6, 40139 Bologna BO
• Bar Edera — 5:00 pm / 7:00 pm / 10:00 pm - Via Massenzio Masia, 14A, 40138 Bologna BO

June 6

• Bar Billi — 10:30 am / 11:30 am / 12:30 pm - Via Pietro de Coubertin, 1b, 40134 Bologna
• Bar Edera — 3:00 pm / 4:00 pm / 5:00 pm - Via Massenzio Masia, 14A, 40138 Bologna BO
• Bar Ciccio — 6:00 pm / 7:30 pm / 10:00 pm - Via San Mamolo, 128a, 40136 Bologna BO

June 8

• Bar Lunette — 4:00 pm / 6:00 pm / 9:00 pm - Via Gaspare Nadi, 6, 40139 Bologna BO
• Bar Ciccio — 5:00 pm / 7:00 pm / 10:00 pm - Via San Mamolo, 128a, 40136 Bologna BO
• Bar Bello — 5:00 pm / 7:00 pm / 10:00 pm - Via Luigi Tanari, 42, 40131 Bologna BO

June 9

• Bar Lunette — 4:00 pm / 6:00 pm / 9:00 pm - Via Gaspare Nadi, 6, 40139 Bologna BO
• Bar Bello — 5:00 pm / 7:00 pm / 10:00 pm - Via Luigi Tanari, 42, 40131 Bologna BO
• Bar Edera — 5:00 pm / 7:00 pm / 10:00 pm - Via Massenzio Masia, 14A, 40138 Bologna BO

June 10

• Bar Billi — 11:00 am / 12:30 pm / 2:00 pm - Via Pietro de Coubertin, 1b, 40134 Bologna
• Bar Bello — 4:00 pm / 6:00 pm / 9:00 pm - Via Luigi Tanari, 42, 40131 Bologna BO
• Bar Ciccio — 5:00 pm / 7:00 pm / 10:00 pm - Via San Mamolo, 128a, 40136 Bologna BO

Free admission while seats last.