Luciano Virgilio

Jep Gambardella has seduced his way through the lavish nightlife of Rome for decades, but after his 65th birthday and a shock from the past, Jep looks past the nightclubs and parties to find a timeless landscape of absurd, exquisite beauty.

The beautiful daughter of the Roman governor during a time of fierce Christian persecution is a nonbeliver. But when a slave raised alongside her like a sister is condemned to death for her Christian faith, she valiantly attempts to save her.

1943, an estate north of Firenze. The weight of the world is on the shoulders of Penny, who's about 10. An orphan, she must watch over her little sister when they go to live with her aunt and uncle. Penny's a Catholic, and worries about her uncle's soul. He's Jewish, progressive and a free thinker, a fair boss, and devoted to his family. He can be stern, so Penny also worries that she'll never please him and that he won't love her. Then, after the Allied forces land in Sicily and the Germans begin their retreat, Penny must worry about her uncle's life. She tries logic and appeals to human decency. Can a child keep the sky from falling?

The last days of humanity by Karl Kraus, a mammoth drama - almost 800 pages in the Adelphi edition - staged by Luca Ronconi in the Lingotto in Turin, broadcast by Rai