Lakescapes – Widespread Theatre of Lake Maggiore

Theatre that steps out of the theatre

Founded in 2015, Lakescapes – Widespread Theatre of Lake Maggiore is one of the most original festivals in the Piedmontese cultural landscape. The idea is simple yet powerful: to take theatre out of traditional halls and scatter it across the most evocative locations in the region, turning villages, historic villas, lakeside promenades, and civic landmarks into widespread stages. The project is led by the Accademia dei Folli, a historic music-theatre company from Turin, under the artistic direction of Carlo Roncaglia.

A network of seven lakeside municipalities

The 2026 edition, the twelfth, features eighteen events spread between May and November across seven municipalities on Lake Maggiore: Briga Novarese, Colazza, Dormelletto, Lesa, Meina, Mergozzo, and Sesto Calende. The festival is much more than a playbill: it is a cultural network that brings together local administrations, tourism operators, and communities, enhancing the landscape and historical heritage of the lake's Piedmontese shore. Alongside prose, the programme includes music-theatre, itinerant 'white nights' in the villages, and new productions premiered right on the lake.

Lakescapes in Meina

In the municipality of Meina, in the province of Novara, the festival stops at the Teatro di Meina, located in Piazza Santa Margherita, in the heart of the village overlooking Lake Maggiore. Here, on 26 September 2026, 'JC: the story of Jesse Owens' will be performed, a show that recounts the legend of the athlete who, at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, ran faster than the wind and racism. The story is told through the eyes of Luz Long, the German athlete who helped Owens in the long jump and became his brother-in-arms, in a balance of epic, drama, and comedy accompanied by live music.

Between revisited classics and new productions

The stylistic hallmark of Lakescapes is popular yet sophisticated theatre, capable of speaking to a wide audience without sacrificing quality. The programme alternates between great literary classics reinterpreted with irony and contemporary language, shows that weave live music and storytelling, and original creations. The Meina show, written by Cristiano Ragab and directed by Carlo Roncaglia, is an example of this civil and poetic theatre, where sport becomes a metaphor for dignity and resistance.

Why it's worth it

• An intense and timely show, 'JC: the story of Jesse Owens', in the evocative Teatro di Meina
• An evening of theatre overlooking Lake Maggiore, in the province of Novara
• An immersive 'widespread theatre' formula that highlights local landmarks
• Direction by a company with over twenty years of experience in music-theatre

Lakescapes in Meina is the ideal opportunity to combine a quality theatre evening with a trip to the Piedmontese shore of Lake Maggiore, discovering the town in an unusual and fascinating cultural light.