From May 5 to 19, 2025, In Scena! returns to New York for its twelfth edition. Organized by Kairos Italy Theater, KIT Italia, and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU, the festival unfolds across the city’s five boroughs, involving theaters, cultural centers, and independent venues of various sizes. Each year, the lineup is shaped by an open call. There is no set theme: the result is a partial, shifting map of contemporary Italian theater. “Many of this year’s submissions are based on real stories”, says Laura Caparrotti, the festival’s artistic director. But the aim is not to bring the facts to the stage but to understand how they can be made stage-worthy.
Alfredino, Italy in a Deep Well by Fabio Banfo revisits the collective trauma of the Alfredo Rampi tragedy, a media event that reshaped Italy’s relationship with television. Banfo approaches it alone on stage, unfiltered, on May 6 at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò and May 8 at The Rat NYC, Brooklyn. Lampedusa Beach by Lina Prosa is performed by Nadia Kibout, telling the story of Shauba, an African migrant whose journey ends with no rescue, no conclusion—just a trace. On May 5 at Casa Italiana and May 6 at the Calandra Institute.
Some works don’t focus on events, but on what lingers. La regola dei terzi by Marco De Simone follows an encounter between Robert Capa and a Sicilian farmer in 1943. The play won the 2025 In Scena! Playwright Award, a prize that highlights emerging voices in Italian playwriting. The war stays offstage. The reading will be held May 19 at the Italian Cultural Institute. Mater Familias by Pier Lorenzo Pisano is directed by Emma Denson as part of the Emerging Directors Mentorship, a new program launched in collaboration with The Tank. Three generations, one space, tense dynamics. No plot, just pressure. Staged on May 4, 8, 11, 15, and 18 at The Tank, Manhattan.
My Mama Notarizes & Also Makes Risotto by Filippo Capobianco works with comic distortion, focusing on identity as a gap between gestures and language, performing on May 11 at Culture Lab LIC and May 12 at Casa Italiana. Amara Sapienza by Giulia Bocciero is not a tribute to the famed actress and writer Goliarda Sapienza, so much as a portrait that emerges through fragments—thoughts, words, physicality—no linear story. On May 15 at Theaterlab and May 16 at BAAD in the Bronx.
The Popess: Instructions for Freedom by Elena Mazzon is an anachronistic variation, delving into a medieval feminism that may never have existed. On May 9 at Casa Italiana and May 10 at Culture Lab LIC. The Perky Theresas by Alessio Piazza builds memory through repetition in objects, voices, and recurring gestures. On May 12 at Casa Italiana and May 13 at Casa Belvedere, Staten Island.
Like an Octopus in a Guitar by Marco Ziello portrays a mind folding in on itself, exploring memory as persistent sound. On May 17 at NOoSPHERE Arts and May 18 at WOW Cafe Theater. In the Name of Mary by Chiara Gambino approaches the mafia from the edge. A female perspective, stripped of illusion, with no possibility for redemption. On May 6 at Casa Italiana and May 11 at Culture Lab LIC.
Six Characters in Search of an Author, adapted by Nick Gabriel from Luigi Pirandello, is performed in English. A meta-theatrical classic reimagined, featuring Meridian Anastasia, Sophia Chacon, Feras Halabi, Finn Mackimmie, Isabella Kaplan, Michael Reese Shald, Sam Trott, and Kevin Wang (also stage manager). Presented on May 14 at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò and May 17 at NOoSPHERE Arts, Brooklyn.
“Intimate” is the word Caparrotti uses to connect the paths of this edition. Not as retreat, but as exposure. “The themes reflect the time we live in,” she says. “We’re asking ourselves who we are, privately and publicly. I believe that performances like those at In Scena! can help us find answers. There will be laughter, moments of emotion. And during the show, there is always that instant when something shifts your perspective, even just for a moment.”
