Il sindaco del rione Sanità

Il sindaco del Rione Sanità ("The Mayor of Rione Sanità", also "The Syndicate") is a play in three acts by Neapolitan screenwriter and actor Eduardo De Filippo. It was written in 1960 and first presented on stage that same year by Eduardo himself, at the Quirino theatre in Rome. The play is set in Rione Sanità, a well known, degraded neighborhood in Naples. Eduardo has commented that the plot was inspired from a real-life story, and specifically from some "Campoluongo", a furniture-maker who lived in Rione Sanità and was respected by the population as a local authority (i.e., a sort of "Mayor"). Campoluongo was in fact a friend of Eduardo, as well as of a number of other Neapolitan actors, including Totò and Nino Taranto, who reportedly benefited from the "protection" of Campoluongo when filming in Naples. In the play, this character is named "Barracano". Eduardo himself used to play this role on stage.