Teatro di Maschere e Tamburi

An amateur theatre festival in the heart of Capurso

The Teatro di Maschere e Tamburi is the historic amateur theatre festival that brings Capurso, a town in the metropolitan city of Bari, Apulia, to life every summer. Promoted by the Associazione Culturale Maschere e Tamburi, an organization active in the town's cultural life for decades, the event showcases local amateur companies with a programme alternating between comedy, satire, and musicals.

The evenings take place in the courtyard of the San Giovanni Bosco School, an open-air space that transforms into a small community theatre during the summer: a stage, audience seating, and the convivial atmosphere of warm Apulian summer nights, with performances starting around 8:30 PM.

The tradition of popular theatre

The festival began as the Capursese Amateur Theatre Festival and reached its twenty-third edition in 2025, a sign of rare continuity for an event born from the grassroots passion of a local association. The project promotes dialect theatre and light comedy—genres deeply loved in Apulia—and offers amateur companies from the province of Bari and beyond a stage on which to perform for the public.

Over the years, dozens of companies from across the region have passed through Capurso, with shows ranging from comic dialect repertoires to reinterpretations of classics, and even musicals produced with amateur resources but great enthusiasm.

A staple of the Capurso summer

Teatro di Maschere e Tamburi is part of the rich summer programme of the Municipality of Capurso, which gathers hundreds of initiatives every year including music, cinema, theatre, literature, and sports, brought to life by dozens of local associations. In this context, the festival represents the moment dedicated to community theatre, with evenings that attract families and enthusiasts from neighbouring towns.

• Where: Courtyard of the San Giovanni Bosco School, Capurso (BA)
• When: Between late June and the start of summer
• Who: Apulian amateur theatre companies
• What: Comedy, satire, musicals, dialect theatre

The dates for the 2026 edition have not yet been announced: the programme is usually released in the weeks prior via the channels of the Municipality of Capurso and the organizing association.