The Song of the Forest: the show on the Chambons Woods

It was an exciting homecoming for the theatrical performance about the Chambons Forest that animated the warm evening of Fenestrelle in the Council Hall on Saturday, August 16. The delicate tale of an event set in Val Chisone at the end of the 1800s, when the inhabitants of a small hamlet – especially the women – manage to stop the felling of a precious larch forest. A representation titled “The Song of the Forest,” written and performed by anthropologist Irene Borgna, with the support of forest sciences professor Giorgio Vacchiano, using the traditional Japanese narrative technique of Kamishibai, where the story progresses in parallel to the alternating evocative illustrations in a portable wooden theater.

The idea developed by the two authors with the charming illustrations by Silvia Benetollo is the ultimate expression of an in-depth archival research and historical dissemination work carried out right in Fenestrelle by Roberta Moschini and Alberto Espagnol, and resumed by the park ranger of the Protected Areas of the Cozie Alps, Bruno Usseglio. The story tells of the civil revolt of the inhabitants of Chambons, then a frazione of the municipality of Mentoulles, who organize to save the forest behind the settlement that had been unwisely sold at auction by the mayor. The event takes place in early November 1898 when the impending start of the cuts pushes the men down to Pinerolo to inquire about the legitimacy of the decision and to file an appeal, while the women head up into the forest where they hide with the help of the fog, starting to move boulders that roll down the steep slopes, crashing onto the lumberjacks, the magistrate, and the Carabinieri escorting them. “Better in jail than buried by avalanches,” the Chambonesi repeat, emphasizing the essential protective work that the forest offers from the surrounding mountains. For their part, the authorities begin to understand the usefulness of those trees just when they have to shelter behind the trunks to avoid the stones raining down from above.

The story managed to touch the emotions of the more than 130 people present, also thanks to the sensitivity of Irene Borgna, who was visibly moved by the opportunity to stage the performance right in the place where it was inspired. To emphasize the teamwork that made the performance possible, the mayor of Fenestrelle Michel Bouquet, historian Roberta Moschini, and park ranger Bruno Usseglio spoke.