Who are we, on stage the story of Compagnia Lavoratori Portuali

The show signed by Gabriele Benucci and Fabrizio Brandi, who will also be performing, will take place on Thursday, April 18th at 9:15 pm, dedicated to the history of the Compagnia Lavoratori Portuali di Livorno and its relationship with the city. The show is presented by the Cultural Association Achab with the contribution of the Municipality of Livorno – Port Department, Livorno Port Company, and Compagnia Impresa Lavoratori Portuali. The location for the show could not be other than the Cinema Teatro Quattro Mori, in the heart of the Palazzo dei Portuali. Also on stage with Brandi is Maestro Massimo Signorini with his accordion.
Port Commissioner Barbara Bonciani states: “Livorno is a city born from the sea, the main port of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in the 17th century, among the busiest ports in the Mediterranean. The history and destiny of the city have always been linked to the presence of the port, which characterizes its origins and development and still permeates the mindset of its inhabitants today. This show is an emotional journey into the historical memory of the port city of Livorno. By reconstructing the events from the construction of Livorno’s port company to the transformations following the Prandini decrees of 1989 that radically changed the history of Italian ports, we can understand the reasons for the close connection between the port and its city and the economic, social, and cultural role played by the Livorno Port Company. This is a theatrical project that uses not only written historical sources but also oral accounts narrated by the first and second generations of Livorno port workers, providing a lively testimony of past events that is transmitted, in the form of theatrical narrative, to future generations.”
According to the president of the Livorno Port Company, Enzo Raugei: “The initiative on April 18th at 4 Mori organized by the Achab Association about the history of the Compagnia Lavoratori Portuali and the city has emotionally involved us, and we have very positively welcomed the aim of making the new generations understand the meaning of the Company for the port and more generally for the city. In its evolutionary path, the Company has become more and more a point of reference for the city, marking a strong bond with the territory and institutions. It aimed to make the Palazzo del Portuale a place of culture with the opening of the library and the activities of the cinema 4 Mori. Strong interventions were made in the social and solidarity field, not only with the city but also at the national level. The Company today, with the overcoming of the reserve, no longer has the centrality of work in the port but has developed a strong entrepreneurial profile through participation in the terminalist enterprise CILP, now the second port company in terms of turnover and personnel, and in the subsidiary Livorno Reefer, the only port company dealing with controlled temperature exotic fruit storage. We continue to play a reference role in work and the development of port activities, a result of our history and what we have meant for decades.”
**THE SHOW**
The theatrical project aims to enhance a fundamental historical memory for Livorno: that of the events, closely intertwined with the city’s development, of the Compagnia Lavoratori Portuali (CLP), from its inception to the transformations following the “Prandini decrees” of 1989 and the birth of CPL and CILP. From a mere instrument for managing port labor in the fascist era, the Company first emerged as a significant subject in the city’s democratic rebirth, and then established itself with its own autonomous role as an entrepreneurial subject. Over time, it has always looked outward, seeking and finding a very close relationship with the city, of which for many years it was an integral part of the social fabric, also thanks to constant participation in its social and cultural activities.
To retrace the history of this citizen socioeconomic subject means to understand the reasons for the close connection between the port and its city, shed light on the fundamental role, not only at the operational level but also social and cultural, played by the Company, understand the political background on which this action could develop and value the role played in the development of the Livorno port.
Talking about the Company also means talking about workers who aimed for self-management to build their future of social redemption and whose actions have extended over time from work to economic policy, political directions, knowledge, and culture.
Anti-fascist struggle, support for marginalized people, the weakest, and workers from other categories, political and social commitment, training: these are the milestones of the action carried out – as described by Italo Piccini – by port workers over the more than forty years from the foundation of the Company in ’47, to the end of its exclusive role with the Prandini decrees in ’89.
And it was Piccini, the Consul who led the Company from ’63 to ’89, who recalled, already 25 years ago, that these men and women “from labor providers became entrepreneurs, from the use of their own arms they moved on to possessing the means of production, from the lowest cultural levels reached a constant professional preparation, from the hod to technologically more advanced systems.” The artistic tool with which this story is told is the one with which the Achab Association has been working for almost thirty years: theater. In this case, it is specifically “narrative theater,” a particular form of staging that relies on the storytelling of a single actor.
Through his interpretation, the audience will listen to the voices of the workers, relive their stories and those of the city and its inseparable relationship with the port. It will not be a mere storytelling of facts, but a continuous entering and exiting from situations in which the actor will guide the audience by constantly switching from an objective narrator to a character/characters. And supporting the narration, like a second character, will be the Maestro’s accordion. The show is produced with the contribution of Nuovo Teatro delle Commedie, Unicoop Tirreno e Cooperativa Itinera. In the foyer of the Quattro Mori theater, the 2022 social report of Unicoop Tirreno will be available, which reports on the social commitment of Unicoop Tirreno in the territories. Cooperativa Itinera will distribute a discount coupon for boat access to all attendees to be used during the summer season. Research history, ideation, writing, direction, and staging were curated by Gabriele Benucci and Fabrizio Brandi. The two have already worked together for the shows “Otto con” and “Caprilli, il cavaliere volante”.
The Cultural Association Achab has produced several shows over the years, whose writing has always been entrusted to Gabriele Benucci, focusing on characters or themes closely related to the culture and history of the city. Among others,
“Ex Voto” (2004) Show with rhyming text and songs; “Moresca” (2006) Show within the Interreg IIIa project “Mores” on the figure of Pietro Tacca, author of the monumental group of the Quattro Mori; “Testa di rame” (2010) Narrative text by Gabriele Benucci and Andrea Gambuzza on the figure of the diver in the aftermath of Liberation; “Impossible interview with the Madonna of Montenero” (2010) Brilliant show by Gabriele Benucci; Otto con” (2014) narrative show about the Livorno rowing crew of the Scarronzoni; “Caprilli: il cavaliere volante” (2022) narrative show by Gabriele Benucci dedicated to the history of Federico Caprilli, the most important theorist of modern horsemanship. With Fabrizio Brandi; 1921.MILLENOVECENTOVENTUNO, text by Gabriele Benucci on the split of the socialist party and the birth of the PCI in Livorno. With Alessandro Benvenuti. Teatro Goldoni, December 2021.