A debut text - award winner at the 10th Concorso Autori Sipario competition - by the talented Chicco Dossi, Nell’occhio del labirinto [In the Eye of the Labyrinth] is a monologue in which the aberrant distortions of Italy’s "Tortora case" are narrated, probed and brought to light. On stage, the young Simone Tudda – awarded a special mention in the Hystrio alla Vocazione prize competition – gives body and voice to a dramaturgical text that goes far beyond historical re-enactment, penetrating into the psychology of the falsely accused and innocent,  but nonetheless convicted Enzo Tortora.

“We often think”, writes Chicco Dossi, “that our 21st century is the era of fake news and the overwhelming power of the media – both traditional and social – in directing public opinion to one side or the other. However, the Tortora case is a clear example of how the manipulation of information has its roots further back in time: authoritative newspapers and well-respected journalists all contributed to a grotesque muckraking machine based on "judicial gossip", rivers of slander based on hearsay, intense hunts for the most grisly scoop with the aim of depicting an honest person as a double-faced monster: on the one hand, a famous TV presenter who entertains families on Italian state networks and, on the other, a criminal able to move millions of lire and kilos of cocaine with one snap of his fingers.
The Tortora case is incredible not only for the cruelty with which judges, the press and public opinion raged against an innocent man. Enzo's story is that of a man who, from the height of his position as a public figure, decided to become the spokesperson for a battle that has no political colour, but simply that of JUST justice. He could have gone into hiding as others – less innocent than he – had already done before him, or he could have escaped from a trial which he knew was unfair. Instead, aware of his innocence, Tortora stripped himself of his immunity as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) to be judged by a court that did not see him as a defendant, but as an enemy. Again, certain of his innocence, he made his story available to all those who find themselves in the same situation as him, but who do not have the means and the opportunities to be judged fairly”.