De Filippo Amateur Theater Festival

Grassroots theater takes center stage in Agropoli

The De Filippo Amateur Theater Festival at the CineTeatro Eduardo De Filippo is the autumn showcase that the Municipality of Agropoli, in the province of Salerno, dedicates to amateur and community theater companies from Campania. The initiative was born from a simple yet effective idea: to offer those who perform for the love of theater a professional stage, high-quality lighting and sound equipment, and, most importantly, a real audience from the local community. The festival is organized by the municipal administration in close collaboration with the Theatron Cultural and Theater Association and runs alongside the main prose season curated in partnership with the Teatro Pubblico Campano.

A journey that has grown year after year

The experience began in 2023 with an initial public call for companies interested in participating in an amateur theater review. From that starting point, the project evolved into a full-fledged annual festival: 2025 marked the third edition, while for 2026, the Municipality has already issued the call for entries for the fourth edition. The format remains the same: a series of performances spread over several weeks, with one show at a time, allowing each company to present its production to the Agropoli audience during an evening entirely dedicated to them.

How to participate

Access to the festival is granted through an expression of interest published on the official notice board of the Municipality of Agropoli. Only amateur and community theater companies based in Campania can apply, and they must demonstrate proven theatrical experience and provide adequate insurance coverage for accidents, rehearsals, and setup. Each admitted company performs a single play. This approach prioritizes variety: throughout the festival, different styles and languages alternate, from classic Neapolitan comedy to farce, and from revisited authorial texts to original scripts.

The repertoire and atmosphere

The heart of the program is almost always comedy in Neapolitan or the local Cilento dialect—the preferred terrain for local companies—but there are also forays into the classics and ironic reinterpretations of myths. The audience that fills the De Filippo is largely composed of families, groups of friends, and supporters of the companies, creating a warm, participatory atmosphere that is far removed from the formality of larger stages. Performances generally take place on weekday evenings, starting in the early evening, with prices kept intentionally low to ensure accessibility for everyone.

The CineTeatro Eduardo De Filippo

Named after the greatest Neapolitan playwright of the 20th century, the CineTeatro Eduardo De Filippo on Via Taverne is now Agropoli's main cultural hub: it hosts the prose season with nationally renowned names, film screenings, school performances, and, of course, the amateur festival. Tickets for shows are also managed online via the Vivaticket platform, while information on the season can be found on the theater's official website and social media channels.

Agropoli and Cilento in the off-season

Attending the festival is also an excellent opportunity to discover Agropoli away from the summer crowds. The town, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea at the northern entrance of the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park, preserves an old town center gathered around the Aragonese castle, accessible via the staircase and the 17th-century arch, as well as a very lively tourist port. In autumn, the temperature is mild, local restaurants offer authentic Cilento cuisine—Mediterranean diet, 'menaica' anchovies, white figs, Cilento olive oil—and from here, you can easily reach Paestum with its Greek temples, Castellabate, and the coastal beaches. A night at the theater and a weekend in Campania: it's a perfect combination.