Let's Celebrate Dialect

The Marche dialect takes centre stage at the Giuseppe Verdi Theatre

In Pollenza, a small municipality in the province of Macerata in the heart of the Marche region, the "Celebriamo il dialetto" review is now an eagerly awaited event of the theatre season. Alongside the prose season at the Giuseppe Verdi Theatre, the review is entirely dedicated to comedies in the Marche and Macerata dialect, a tradition that amateur theatre groups from the area cherish with passion year after year.

Dialect as a living heritage

Far from being a language of the past, dialect here becomes the vehicle for straightforward and immediate comedy, full of misunderstandings, double entendres, and portrayals of village life. The comedies on the programme are typical of Italian-style comedy, with brilliant and engaging plots capable of making entire generations of spectators laugh. It is community theatre, born from the territory and speaking the language of its inhabitants.

Local theatre groups

Amateur theatre groups from the province of Macerata and surrounding areas take turns on stage: from the L'Alternativa company of San Severino to the Amici del Teatro of Loro Piceno, and the historic Compagnia filarmonico drammatica Caldarelli of Macerata. These groups have been promoting dialect theatre for decades, with repertoires ranging from comedies of errors to stories of past peasant life.

The Giuseppe Verdi Theatre

The setting is the elegant Giuseppe Verdi Theatre, an 19th-century gem in Pollenza inaugurated in 1883 with Donizetti's La Favorita. Designed by Ireneo Aleandri and completed by Francesco Vespignani, the theatre features a classic horseshoe-shaped auditorium with two tiers of boxes and a gallery, seating approximately 250 people. An intimate and cozy venue, perfect for the warmth of dialect evenings.

The review is organised by the Municipality of Pollenza in collaboration with the Massimo Romagnoli Cultural and Theatre Association, with affordably priced tickets designed to encourage the widest possible participation from the local community.