Geothermal Hills Festival in Montieri

Theatre that inhabits the geothermal villages

The Geothermal Hills Festival is one of the most original contemporary theatre festivals in Tuscany. Created to bring culture to the small towns of the geothermal area between the provinces of Pisa and Grosseto, the festival is organized by Officine Papage and unfolds as a widespread journey across five municipalities: Pomarance, Castelnuovo Val di Cecina, Monteverdi Marittimo, Monterotondo Marittimo, and Montieri. Village squares, historic theatres, and the landscapes of the hills become the stage for performances, walks, workshops, and meetings.

Montieri and Boccheggiano, in the heart of the Province of Grosseto

In the territory of the Municipality of Montieri, in the Province of Grosseto, the festival primarily chooses the evocative Piazza Sant'Agostini, in the hamlet of Boccheggiano, an ancient mining village in the Colline Metallifere. Here, under the summer sky of Southern Tuscany, spectators attend theatrical evenings immersed in an atmosphere of silence and beauty, far from the major circuits but close to the most authentic soul of the region.

The beauty of the margins

The festival embraces a precise idea: what appears lateral and fragile — in territories as in biographies, in languages as in creative processes — actually reveals unprecedented perspectives. This is the philosophy behind the theme "The Beauty of the Margins," which guides the programming towards a theatre capable of speaking to villages and communities, with attention to accessibility and inclusion through the Open section, accessible performances, and workshops for schools.

A programme of premieres and previews

Each edition offers dozens of events with Italian and international artists, including world premieres and national previews. Alongside evening performances, the programme includes theatrical walks, artist residencies in the villages, aperitif-dinners, and meetings with authors. In Montieri, there is also space for the itinerant device "The Embarrassment of the Infinite" by Officine Papage, a work conceived for one spectator at a time and inspired by the world of Isaac Asimov.

A territory to be discovered

Attending the festival is also an opportunity to explore a little-known corner of Tuscany: the Colline Metallifere and the geothermal area, with their medieval villages, scenic trails, steam manifestations, and centuries-old mining tradition. Montieri and Boccheggiano, with their ancient stones and views, offer a rare setting for a cultural experience that weaves together theatre, landscape, and community.