Theater and Dance at the Castle (Summer in Naples)

The Castle in the summer of 2025

In 2025, the courtyard of Castel Nuovo was one of the most intensely programmed venues of Summer in Naples, the festival promoted and funded by the Municipality of Naples. The season had opened in July with the cinema arena Pickpocket — Cinema and its stories, continued from July 25 to August 3 with the ten free evenings of Music at the Castle, and then gave way to drama.

From August 4 to 9, 2025, the 23rd edition of Ridere took place, the festival of comedy theater, music, and cabaret organized by Teatro Totò under the artistic direction of Gaetano Liguori: every evening at 9:30 PM, within the ancient walls of Castel Nuovo, with free admission and a lineup entrusted to some of the most well-known names in Neapolitan comedy. On stage, in order, Francesca Marini (August 4), Rosalia Porcaro (5), Simone Schettino (6), Paolo Caiazzo (7), Ciro Ceruti (8), and, for the closing night, Peppe Barra (August 9).

Even in 2025, therefore, the Maschio Angioino confirmed its role as the city's open-air theater, in a format—free admission, a different company each night, the monument as a backdrop—later taken up and expanded by the Theater and Dance at the Castle festival in 2026.