Although Carlo Collodi’s ‘Le avventure di Pinocchio’ is generally considered a children’s tale, like many similarly classified works of fiction, it is actually much more: it is, among other things, a narrative about the memory of a nation that had only very recently attained political unity and independence. According to the Italian philosopher Benedetto Croce it is “a tale for adults, centred on the tragic figure of Geppetto, a story where the whole of humanity is inscribed in a piece of wood”, a story that tackles “the relationship between freedom and obedience, between father and son”. In honor of 40 years of the release of the movie, this dramatic reading is performed in Italian with English subtitles, and features Geppetto center stage.