As part of the 2026 edition of the Mittelfest theatre festival, a preview reading of La strage di Vergarolla will be performed on Friday 24 July at 17:00 pm in the evocative setting of the Church of San Francesco in Stretta J. Stellini 15 in Cividale del Friuli (UD) , a text being created by Paolo Valerio, artistic director of the Teatro Stabile del Friuli Venezia Giulia Il Rossetti, the historian Davide Rossi and the journalist Lucia Bellaspiga.

Eighty years after the events, Mittelfest hosts a special presentation dedicated to one of the most tragic and forgotten episodes of twentieth-century Italy: the explosion of August 18, 1946, on Vergarolla beach in Pula, which claimed dozens of civilian lives, including many children. An event still shrouded in silence, it seeks to restore to collective memory as a living and necessary tale, capable of questioning the past and illuminating it beyond its long oblivion.

THE VERGAROLLA MASSACRE

di Paolo Valerio, Davide Rossi and Lucia Bellaspiga
with  Paolo Valerio

cartoonist Marco Trecalli
live music Sabrina Reale piano e Luca Reale violin
video Alexander Pope
historical consultant Lorenzo Salimbeni
assistant director Giulia Bonghi
with the collaboration of Anna Maria Crasti

production Teatro Stabile del Friuli Venezia Giulia
in collaboration with the People's University of Trieste

Tickets and reservations:
https://www.mittelfest.org/spettacolo/la-strage-di-vergarolla/