XX EDITION

This year, the Festival reaches its twentieth edition while also celebrating thirty years since its foundation. Established in 1994, exactly thirty years ago, Opera Prima has welcomed different generations of theatre artists over the years, presenting new approaches and styles and reflecting the changes, weariness, upheavals and sudden impulses that have shaped not only the Italian theatrical scene.

The Festival seeks to give voice to this double anniversary through this year’s original visual identity. Three female figures symbolise the passing of time and the succession of generations in theatre. The black figure recalls the poster from the first edition in 1994; the white figure, in its various transformations, has represented the Festival’s revival in recent years; and finally, the red figure of a young woman looks towards the future while embracing both the past and the present.

This year’s programme also aims to take audiences on a journey through the Festival’s history. Alongside a selection of compelling and original works by young artists, the Festival will present several landmark productions by established Italian companies, offering audiences the extraordinary and perhaps unique opportunity to rediscover important works they may only have heard about without ever having had the chance to see them.

These include Jago by Roberto Latini, the now multi-award-winning actor and director who first attracted critical attention at Opera Prima in 1998 with this very production; Teatro da mangiare?, undoubtedly the work that laid the foundations for Teatro delle Ariette’s distinctive way of conceiving and practising theatre, first presented at Opera Prima in 2001; and the even more historic QUIJOTE! by Teatro Nucleo, a production dating back to 1990 and revived by the company this year to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. Teatro del Lemming will also revisit Cinque Sassi, presented at the Festival’s first edition in 1994, with L’Urlo e altre falistre, based on texts by Marco Munaro.

Teatro del Lemming, the creator of Opera Prima, will also present its new production, Attorno a Troia_TROIANE. Other long-established companies taking part include Masque Teatro and Anagoor, while returning guests from recent editions of the Festival include Giselda Ranieri with Zoe Pia, Sara Vilardo, Fabio Liberti, Joshua Monten, Collettivo Rosario, Psycodrummers and the Rovigo-based group MOMEC.

PRESS REVIEW

Doppio anniversario per opera prima

Festival Opera Prima XX Edizione (Punto e linea Magazine)

Estate 2024 eventi in programma nella Regione Veneto (PADOVA NEWS)

Festival Opera Prima di Rovigo XX Edizione e trent’anni della fondazione (ROVIGOINFOCITTA')

Una chiacchierato con Aeham Ahmad (F.Casoni | Basso Veneto)

Festival Opera Prima 24 A Rovigo la tradizione della sperimentazione teatrale (S. De March | KLPTEATRO)

7 Festival di teatro, danza e circo da non perdere a fine giugno ( L. Bevione | Artibune)

I vent’anni di sperimentazione del Festival Opera Prima (G.Distefano | EXIBART)

Il Festival Opera Prima compie trent’anni. Conversazione con Massimo Munaro (M. Pascarella | GAGARIN MAGAZIN)

La musica è un altro livello di comunicazione. Aeham Ahmad e Steve Schofield a Opera Prima (F. Casoni | Basso Veneto)

Iago di Roberto Latini all’Opera Prima Festival (SCATOLAEMOZIONALE)