Tiziano Terzani's famous book 'A fortune teller told me', recently the subject of a re-edition illustrated by unpublished shots made available by his wife, Angela Staude, has become a show with Peppe Servillo.
Volume and show are inspired by an episode that occurred in the spring of 1976, when an old fortune teller in Hong Kong warned Terzani: "Be careful! In 1993 you run a great risk of dying. In that year, don't fly. Never fly."
Terzani decides to indulge him, and that choice becomes an opportunity for him to live a different year.
He continues to do his job as a journalist, but with a different point of view.
He investigates man's mysterious relationship with destiny, and delves into the different ways of experiencing it in the East and the West.
He travels a lot in Asia, where he lives, but he does so by train, ship, car, on foot, and even on elephant back.
The meetings of that fateful year opened him to the world of spirituality, which he would never abandon for the rest of his life.
The reading-show was staged in its national premiere yesterday, twenty years after Terzani's death, at the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper in Turin.
It was produced by Intesa Sanpaolo in collaboration with The Italian Literary Agency and Longanesi, the writer's historic publisher.
On stage Servillo is accompanied by the musician and singer Natalio Luis Mangalavite, behind them the black and white shots chosen for the new edition of the book scroll on a large screen.
Before the reading there is a speech by Angela Terzani Staude herself.
The direction is by Lorenzo Pavolini.
This evening it will be repeated at the Franco Parenti in Milan, then the show will be taken to some festivals around Italy.
The experience of Intesa Sanpaolo's theatrical readings, curated by Giulia Cogoli, is a tradition that continues after events that over the years have involved personalities such as Daniel Pennac, Paolo Rumiz, Benedetta Tobagi, Maurizio de Giovanni.
The skyscraper is a workplace for two thousand people, and over 135 thousand have so far followed its cultural activities.