Shakespeare — Midsummer Sonnets

A touring festival through the squares of Piedmont

Shakespeare — Midsummer Sonnets is a vibrant summer festival that, in 2026, evolves into a full-scale touring cultural project. Born in Carmagnola, in the Metropolitan City of Turin, from a shared vision of the Gruppo di Lettura Carmagnola and the Essenza Danza association, the festival takes William Shakespeare’s famous sonnets out of traditional theatres and into the squares, promenades, and castle courtyards of five different municipalities in Piedmont.

The concept: great art without barriers

The heart of the project is simple and generous: to take great art out of theatres and make it accessible to all, without barriers. Every evening is free and held outdoors, ensuring that poetry, theatre, dance, and music reach those who, for economic reasons, do not usually attend live performances. The organizers' stated goal is to restore contemporary vitality to Shakespeare’s language, making it vibrate once again under the summer sky.

Acting, dance, and live music

Each event is built around a selection of sonnets, recited by actors and accompanied by contemporary dance from the Essenza Danza troupe, directed by Elena Piazza, and live music. The core cast features actors Roberta Belforte and Davide De Luca, while the musical ensembles vary from stop to stop, with Rebecca Mellano’s harp joined by flute, violin, oboe, or vocals.

The final jig: artists and audience together

A distinctive feature of the festival is the finale of each evening: a collective jig, a folk dance shared between artists and the audience, echoing the tradition of English Elizabethan theatre, where spectators joined the actors in the final dance. It is the moment when the performance becomes a community experience and the audience becomes part of the stage.

Stops in Carmagnola, Santena, Villastellone, Poirino, and Racconigi

The 2026 tour visits five municipalities: after the inauguration in the Courtyard of the Castle of Carmagnola, the festival reaches Santena, Villastellone, and Poirino between late June and early July, before concluding in September at the Royal Castle of Racconigi, during the opening of the "Libri a Castello" festival.

Organizers

The festival is promoted by the Gruppo di Lettura Carmagnola and Essenza Danza, in collaboration with Terre dei Savoia and the "La Fonte" photography club, with the patronage of the Piedmont Region and the support of BTM — Banca Territori del Monviso.