THE 2026/27 THEATRE SEASON IN SPOLETO

On Saturday 7 November at 8.45 pm, Giorgio Marchesi and Simonetta Solder will take to the stage in Harold Pinter’s The Lover, directed by Veronica Cruciani: a brilliant and incisive psychological drama centred on the dynamics of power within a middle-class marriage. This iconic play by the British playwright explores a relationship built on ambiguity, the power of words and the delicate balance between control and loss.

Following an extraordinary world tour, on Thursday 19 November at 8.45 pm, the artist Matthias Martelli will bring Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s play Lu Santo Jullàre Françesco to the stage in Spoleto – a moving and ironic account of a story that has become a true archetype of our narrative heritage. Martelli navigates a narrative steeped in tenderness, lightness and courage, yet also marked by sharp satire, following in the footsteps of the talent and brilliant work of the Nobel Prize-winner (produced by Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria and Teatro Stabile Torino – Teatro Nazionale).

The season continues on Saturday 19 December at 8.45 pm with the play Il medico dei pazzi (The Madmen’s Doctor), one of Eduardo Scarpetta’s funniest farces; a perfect comedy of misunderstandings adapted and directed by Leo Muscato – one hundred years after Scarpetta’s death – starring Gianfelice Imparato. The director reinterprets the great playwright’s work, set in Naples in the 1970s and 1980s, amidst a riot of colour, music and irony, shortly after the Basaglia Law (1978), which mandated the closure of mental asylums. Don Felice and his ‘madmen’ return to the stage in a whirlwind of misunderstandings, comedy and a tribute to the great Neapolitan theatre tradition.

Tuesday 12 January at 8.45 pm at the Teatro Caio Melisso, Carla Fendi (not included in season tickets), Denis Fasolo adapts, stars in and directs Il sergente nella neve (The Sergeant in the Snow), the autobiographical short story written by Mario Rigoni Stern in 1953; ‘It’s a universal text,’ explains the actor. ‘I love Rigoni Stern and I’d very much like to share this love and introduce it to those who haven’t yet had the chance to appreciate its value and his love for humanity, for ordinary people, and for those who fight for a healthy and honest life.’

On Saturday 6 February at 8.45 pm, Francesco Scianna – one of the most talented actors on the Italian theatre scene – directs and stars in Hospitality Suite by the American writer Roger Rueff: a play exploring the themes of identity, morality and life choices. A timely and powerful reflection on work, interpersonal relationships and the existential questions that everyone asks themselves in the course of their lives.

On Wednesday 24 February at 8.45 pm, a great classic takes to the stage: Goldoni’s Le smanie per la villeggiatura, a play of rare ensemble quality brought to the stage by director Giorgio Sangati with nine actors – Agnese Sofia Bonato, Nicola Bortolotti, Cosimo Grilli, Valerio Mazzucato, Cristiano Parolin, Luca Passera, Luciano Roman, Ottavia Sanfilippo, Sara Zoia – who, as he writes in his director’s notes, ‘are called upon to embody our own longings too, to force us to look in the mirror before it is too late.’

On Sunday 7 March at 5.00 pm, it is the turn of Richard III, one of William Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays, a grand fresco depicting the manifestations of evil. The play’s protagonist is Vinicio Marchioni who, directed by Antonio Latella, brings to life a Duke of Gloucester who captivates with his words and enchants with his beauty, in a ‘tragic Eden’ where harmony is merely an illusion. Joining the multi-award-winning actor on stage is an exceptional cast comprising Silvia Ajelli, Anna Coppola, Flavio Capuzzo Dolcetta, Sebastian Luque Herrera, Luca Ingravalle, Giulia Mazzarino, Candida Nieri, Stefano Patti, Annibale Pavone and Andrea Sorrentino (a production by Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria).

The programme concludes on Sunday 11 April at 5.00 pm with a celebration of great dance: the production Dreamers, in which Aterballetto brings together three of the most significant choreographers on the international contemporary scene: Philippe Kratz, Angelin Preljocaj and Crystal Pite. Three distinct perspectives, three poetic worlds that intertwine in a journey that explores the present through the powerful and elusive language of dance.