La Storia Bandita (The outlawed history) show represents one of the proudest and most painful chapters of Lucanian historical memory. The main character is Carmine Crocco, a personality of the popular history and the leader of the peasant revolution against the new Italian government in the 19th century. The uprising broke out because the Institutions did not respect the hope for redemption promoted by Garibaldi.
 
 
Brigandage is too often considered as a criminal practice but in fact it takes inspiration from the ideas of freedom and solidarity which still resound today among these mountains, eternal witnesses to the bloodshed that blemished them. It’s a fascinating but “minor” history because it’s a story of losers and not winners, a story that official historiography did not always illustrate in the light of the real reasons why violence was used to assert the people’s rights. It’s a difficult chapter of Basilicata’s and southern Italy’s history that caused more than 260 thousands casualties (fallen on the battlefield or condemned to death) between 1861 and 1872.

The show takes you in the dark and fascinating world of brigands, a world of men – not criminals – with their humanity and their stories imbued with a desire for redemption. It does so through extraordinary special effects and more than 400 artists in costume, in an international artistic format. A splendid 3,000-seat natural amphitheatre in Grancia forest with a 25,000 square metre outdoor stage which stands on an enchanting mountainside and has greenery as its set design and the night as its curtain.