Halaesa Performances – Alesina Summer

Theatre returns to its roots

In Tusa, a small town in the Metropolitan City of Messina overlooking the Nebrodi mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea, the summer season features an event that perfectly combines two things that belong together in Sicily: classical theatre and archaeology. The Halaesa Performances, part of the Alesina Summer programme promoted by the Municipality of Tusa, bring great Greek and Latin tragedies and comedies to the ruins of ancient Halaesa Arconidea, a city founded in 403 BC that remained a free ally of Rome for centuries.

An archaeological site as a stage

The archaeological area of Halaesa Arconidea is one of the most evocative spots in the Nebrodi region: remnants of walls, public buildings, and dwellings arranged on a hill overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, all immersed in lush greenery. It is here that archaeologists from the mission of the Université de Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens, in collaboration with the Tindari Archaeological Park and the Superintendency of Messina, unearthed a Hellenistic-Roman theatre, noted as the fourth-largest stone theatre in Sicily. In this setting, the lights go up on the performances during the August evenings: the audience watches the plays with both the actors and twenty-four centuries of history before them.

Tragedies and comedies under the stars

The festival's common thread is classical theatre: Greek tragedy and comedy, presented by national-level productions. Recent editions have alternated between great myths of sorrow—The Trojan Women, Medea—and the biting wit of Aristophanes with The Frogs, while also complementing the excavations with evenings at the Piano delle Fontane open-air theatre in the village, featuring monologues and auteur comedy.

Beyond the theatre: a full summer in Tusa

The Halaesa Performances are the cultural heart of a broader Alesina Summer, which in Tusa weaves together archaeology, literature, and food and wine: from the Archaeology Week to the Book Festival, and various local food festivals. For those visiting the Nebrodi, it is the perfect opportunity to combine a walk through the ruins with the pleasure of a great evening of theatre.

• Where: Halaesa Arconidea archaeological site, Tusa (ME)
• When: August
• Genre: Classical theatre, Greek and Latin tragedy and comedy
• Organizer: Municipality of Tusa