Italia – Brasile 3 a 2

A monologue in a comedic and realistic old-school style. A large extended family gathered in front of the TV for the match of 1982, a formative myth for an entire generation of children at the time. The extraordinary chaos of a spectacle that becomes life and life that becomes a spectacle. A minute-by-minute retelling, straight from the family living room, of the legendary match on July 5, 1982—the game that paved the way for Italy to become world champion – world champion – world champion. It’s not just about the feverish ups and downs of the clash between two legendary national teams, from Paolo Rossi’s first goal to Zoff’s final save. The real protagonists are the relatives and friends, crammed together in front of the brand-new color TV bought for the occasion, living those 90 minutes through rituals, superstitions, exhilaration, despair, curses, and prayers. Italia-Brasile 3 a 2 is a true theatrical phenomenon. A monologue that has been on tour for years, performed across theaters in Europe, it seamlessly shifts—at the speed of a perfectly timed volley—from the comic micro-events of a small Palermo living room to dramatic matches where lives were literally on the line. Deeply rooted in popular culture, with a striking linguistic reinvention that draws from the Palermo dialect, the text is also a moving and humorous coming-of-age story. Anyone who watched the match remembers exactly where and when because that game became the foundational myth of a generation emerging from the contradictions of the 1970s and forever leaving black-and-white behind.

Davide Enia

Davide Enia is a playwright, actor, theatre director and novelist.

His shows are Italia-Brasile 3 a 2 (2002), Scanna (2003), maggio ’43 (2004), I capitoli dell’infanzia (2007), L’abisso (2018). Davide Enia has been awarded the Tondelli Prize at the Riccione Prize (2003), Special Ubu Prize (2003), Hystrio Prize (2005), E.T.I. Prize (2005), Vittorio Mezzogiorno Prize (2006), Gassman Prize (2006). In 2017 he was stage director of Mozart’s opera L’oca del Cairo, at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

Davide Enia wrote and performed the radio drama Rembò (2006) for RaiRadio2.
In 2012 he published his first novel, Così in Terra (Baldini & Castoldi Dalai), translated and published worldwide, and awarded in France in 2016 the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger and the Prix Brignoles as best foreign novel of the year. Così in terra is republished by Sellerio in 2023.
His second novel Appunti per un naufragio (Sellerio, 2017) has been published in France, USA, Germany, Spain and awarded the Mondello International Literary Prize (2018).
The novel inspired the show L’Abisso (2018), Hystrio Twister prize for best show of the year, Le Maschere del Teatro prize for Best Monologue Interpreter, Ubu prize for New Italian Text or Dramaturgical Writing.
In 2023 he writes and directs Eleusi with a production by the Piccolo Teatro di Milano - Teatro d'Europa.

After a debut met with a standing ovation at every performance at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Enia takes Autoritratto on tour. The production is the result of a co-production involving, among others, CSS Teatro Stabile di Innovazione del Friuli Venezia Giulia and Piccolo Teatro di Milano. The work has also given rise to a book of the same name, Autoritratto. Istruzioni per vivere a Palermo, published by Sellerio in 2025.