Contemporaneo Futuro Festival

A festival that grows with its audience

Contemporaneo Futuro is the festival that the Fondazione Teatro di Roma - Teatro Nazionale dedicates to theatre for new generations. Launched in 2021, the event has established itself as one of the most anticipated spring appointments in Rome for families, schools, and young theatre enthusiasts. The curation is entrusted to Fabrizio Pallara, who builds a programme each year capable of speaking to both the youngest and the adults accompanying them.

The festival takes place in the Municipality of Rome, in the Lazio region, and occupies two very different spaces: Teatro India, a converted former factory on the banks of the Tiber in the Ostiense district, and Teatro Torlonia, a small jewel nestled in the park of Villa Torlonia, in the Nomentano district.

A multidisciplinary programme

The hallmark of Contemporaneo Futuro is the variety of its languages. The bill alternates contemporary dance, puppet theatre and object theatre, adaptations of children's literature classics, original dramaturgy, and experimental works. Each performance indicates a recommended age, from two years upwards, so that families can easily navigate the choices: some proposals are designed for early childhood, others for secondary school students.

• dance performances for early childhood and older children;
• puppet theatre, marionettes, and object theatre;
• re-readings of classics such as Ubu by Alfred Jarry or Ovid's Metamorphoses;
• in-depth meetings with scholars and professionals;
• documentary screenings on children's theatre.

More than just shows

Alongside the performances, the festival offers meetings, round tables, and screenings aimed at teachers, cultural operators, and artists. These are moments to discuss the role of theatre in the growth of young people, care practices, and the prospects of the sector. The collaboration with Assitej Italia, the association that brings together professionals in children's and youth theatre, brings documentaries and reflections on the state of the art to Rome.

Italian and international companies

The programme alternates established names on the Italian scene for new generations - Teatro Koreja, Babilonia Teatri, La Baracca - Testoni Ragazzi, Kinkaleri, Campsirago Residenza - with emerging companies and foreign guests. Many productions arrive in Rome for their national premiere or after an artistic residency, offering the capital's audience a glimpse into the most vibrant developments in children's theatre.

Two theatres, two atmospheres

Teatro India, inaugurated in 1999 in the spaces of a former industrial plant on Via Luigi Pierantoni, has maintained the rugged charm of industrial archaeology: bricks, iron, and large volumes that lend themselves to contemporary stage writing. Teatro Torlonia, housed in the former Teatrino delle Dipendenze of Villa Torlonia and reopened in 2007, is instead an intimate hall with just over two hundred seats, ideal for proximity performances and immersive forms.

Why attend

Contemporaneo Futuro is not a simple festival for children: it is a festival that treats the young audience with the same seriousness as the adult one, without simplifications and without fear of addressing difficult themes such as war, personal boundaries, and the environment. For those visiting Rome in the spring, it is also an opportunity to discover two theatrical venues off the beaten tourist track, in districts - Ostiense and Nomentano - that tell a different story of the city than the one on postcards.