The bitter and ambitious play by Leo Ferrero, a playwright who passed away prematurely in the early 1930s, was directed by Alessandro Brissoni, perhaps the most renowned director working in Florence in the immediate post-war period. Zeffirelli played a secondary role in the production, but he acted alongside professionals such as Ottavio Fanfani and Franca Mazzoni. He maintained a long-standing relationship of esteem and friendship with Mazzoni, to the point of involving her in small roles in several films in which he collaborated in various capacities, such as “Andrea Chénier”, “Lo scapolo” and “Camping”; and again for Gabriele D'Annunzio's tragedy "La città morta", staged in 1975 with Sarah Ferrati.