A highly topical issue that has found a voice in the heart of the city of Etna. One of the most painful and pernicious social plagues of our time, the impact of which is often underestimated. Within the limits of the European average, oratory in black for accidental deaths (that's what they call them) It is a theatrical performance held on the evenings of August 29th and 30th at the Bastione degli Infetti.
Introduction to the play
Nino Romeo, the author of the text and director of the show, recalls how the Bastione degli Infetti, which had been an abandoned place and a landfill, has become an evocative setting for theatrical performances. All this was possible thanks to the activism of the members of the Ancient Corsican Committee, who with perseverance have made the Bastion of the Infected a place of meeting and exchange, on a political, cultural and social level.
The author of Within the limits of the European average He wrote the text following the terrible accident at Thyssen-Krupp in Turin (December 2007). A tragic event, among the most serious in the world of work in Italy, which led to the deaths of seven workers and a review of workplace safety regulations. In fact, the fire that broke out was caused by inadequate maintenance of the factory, which in turn resulted from negligence on the part of management. The events at Thyssen-Krupp demonstrate how, even today, exploitation by those who own the means of production towards those who employ their labor, such as workers, for subsistence, still persists.
A disparity that has not yet been eliminated, as many employers put profit before the safety of their workers. Nino Romeo has repeatedly revised the text, precisely because it deals with a social problem that is unfortunately ever-present. The play has been performed on numerous stages in Italy, garnering widespread acclaim from the public and the press.
Within the limits of the European average, lo spettacolo
Graziana Maniscalco plays a woman, completely consumed by grief, who lost her husband in a work-related accident. The pain is so excruciating that she can no longer feel the touch of her body; she is utterly lost, the emptiness she feels so tangible that she feels alienated from her surroundings. The widow retraces the flow of memories, thoughts, and images she shared with her husband: fragments of life that, since his tragic death, can no longer be experienced. The narrative intertwines between flashbacks and the present moment. The protagonist recounts both the daily life she lived with her husband and son, as well as the prospect of a trip to Rapallo, and the hypocrisy of the workplace. The narrative suddenly highlights how unions have now set aside class struggle to seek bargaining with employers instead.
In particular, the woman takes up the title of the play, Within the limits of the European average, A phrase repeated by employers to indicate the "minimal" risk looming over workers. A risk that cannot be accepted, since the individual worker who dies following an accident within the European average has his own experience, his own story.
Although the woman is torn by grief, she lucidly explains how the mass media, especially television, turned to her like vultures to publicly report the tragedy she was experiencing. The widow categorically refuses to expose herself for several reasons. First, she understands that television always tends, for audience reasons, to spectacularization of pain, Which is rendered as a soap opera rather than a moment of reflection. Then the woman realizes that her husband's fatal accident is nothing more than the terrible consequence of an economic system that maximizes profit; everything else is subordinated to it, even human life.
The political theatre taking shape
The play concludes with Graziana Maniscalco's silent exit, without applause, with Nino Romeo approaching her. Before the audience leaves, Elvira Tomarchio of the Antico Corso Committee highlights the unsustainability of the continuing workplace deaths. Furthermore, the Catania community's desire to contribute to giving voice to powerful issues, such as the previous performance, emerges. Malpelo red.
In this play, Graziana Maniscalco embodies not only wives, but women who lose loved ones to workplace accidents. It's a performance that should be viewed not only through the psychological lens of a widow torn by grief, but above all, its political implications should be considered. Workplace deaths are one of the harmful effects of neoliberalism: the gradual dismantling of social rights in favor of private interests also sacrifices health and safety in the workplaceEverything revolves around economic gain, maximizing profits and minimizing costs. Workers are no longer individuals with their own existence, but become numbers designed to keep the wheels of the economic system turning.
In Italy, many workers still lose their lives on the job; a social gangrene that must be dismantled. This can be achieved through ever-increasing public awareness and, particularly, by reviving the political struggle. Understanding that workplace deaths are not a coincidence at all, but are systemic due to capitalismEvery single fragment of the show is aimed at conveying the tragedy of this unacceptable phenomenon. An exploitation that, precisely because of the persistence of an inhumane economic system, manifests itself in different ways. First with child labor, as in the case of Rosso Malpelo, and with the extremely unhealthy factories during the first and second industrial revolutions. The Bread and Roses Strike in the USA, which also saw the tenacity of women like Anna LoPizzoIt was a demonstration of class struggle. Now basic standards for safe workplaces are being disregarded.
