I fantasmi: Dramma in quattro atti (Taken from Roberto Bracco Teatro, Vol. VII)

The first act places us in the solemn drawing‑room of Professor Raimondo Artunni’s rural estate, a space that feels more like an old castle than a simple country house. Within its heavy furnishings and the quiet view of the fields, a motley group gathers: the professor’s wife Giulia, his curious disciples, a handful of servants, and a few local ladies whose presence hints at hidden agendas. The stage is set for a conversation that drifts between scholarly debate and the faintest whisper of something unseen.

As the servant Giuseppe shuffles in, the atmosphere thickens with nervous anticipation; the younger men—Manlio and Luciano—argue over how best to announce their arrival to the reclusive scholar. Their banter reveals a network of obligations and rivalries that suggest the professor’s work may have attracted more than academic interest. Beneath the polite formalities, an undercurrent of superstition lingers, hinted at by the play’s title and the unsettled mood of the household. Listeners are invited to follow the characters’ uneasy steps, wondering whether the “ghosts” are literal hauntings or the lingering doubts of ambition and respect.