Tor Bella Monaca Theatre Festival - Summer Arena
An open-air summer in the Roman suburbs, turning the neighborhood into a world stage
About Tor Bella Monaca Arena
A festival bringing great theatre to the suburbs
In the heart of Tor Bella Monaca, a district in Rome's Municipality VI, the open-air space of the Teatro Tor Bella Monaca lights up every summer for the Tor Bella Monaca Theatre Festival - Summer Arena. This is no ordinary summer festival: it is a cultural project born from a simple yet powerful idea—to make the suburbs a national-level stage where artistic quality meets the audience of an entire neighborhood. The Arena, nestled between the social housing blocks of Via Bruno Cirino, fills with chairs, lights, and voices until late at night, offering performances almost daily from late June throughout the season.
Theatre, music, dance, and cinema under the stars
The program is intentionally multidisciplinary. Alongside plays—revisited classics, absolute debuts, and brilliant comedies—there is space for live music, dance, and open-air cinema. The film arena, curated in collaboration with Zètema Progetto Cultura and the Fondazione Cinema per Roma as part of the citywide Vivi il Cinema! festival, brings dozens of titles and guests from the Italian scene to Tor Bella Monaca, with evening screenings accompanying the theatrical performances.
The festival alternates between household names and emerging young companies, texts from Greek and Latin traditions, and contemporary dramaturgy. It is a way to showcase, edition after edition, the vitality of the Italian theatre scene in an unusual and vibrant setting.
A Roma Culture project for the community
The festival is promoted by Roma Capitale - Department of Culture as part of the Teatri in Comune circuit and produced with Zètema Progetto Cultura. The theatre's artistic direction focuses on quality, experimentation, and deep local roots: hence the slogan accompanying the festival, "a suburb that becomes a world stage." For local residents and spectators arriving from all over Rome and the Lazio region, the Arena is a cultural hub that enlivens summer evenings with affordable ticket prices.
Why it's worth visiting
- Great classics and national debuts in a suggestive open-air space
- A dense program with shows almost every night for weeks
- Cinema under the stars alongside live theatre
- Affordable prices and a strong sense of community
- A Roman suburb to discover far from the tourist circuits
Attending the Tor Bella Monaca Arena means experiencing theatre as a collective, popular ritual, just as it was in Ancient Greece from which many of the featured texts originate: an authentic Roman experience, far beyond the postcards of the historic center.
Tor Bella Monaca Arena — edition 2026
For summer 2026, the Arena of the Teatro Tor Bella Monaca returns to fill the Roman theatre's open-air space with performances, with a program that weaves together plays, music, dance, and cinema for weeks. The lineup combines great repertoire classics—from Aristophanes and Plautus to Pirandello and Homer—with brilliant comedies, national debuts, and contemporary dramaturgy, featuring established companies and young performers. Alongside the theatrical shows, the Vivi il Cinema! film arena brings screenings and guests, while musical evenings complete an offer designed for a broad and popular audience. Produced by Roma Capitale as part of the Teatri in Comune circuit, the 2026 edition confirms the festival's vocation: to make the eastern suburbs of Rome a stage open to the entire city and the Lazio region.
Programme Tor Bella Monaca Arena 2026
Opening - June
The open-air season kicks off with the comedy Stremate sotto la pioggia, written by Giulia Ricciardi and directed by Patrizio Cigliano, starring Maddalena Emanuela Rizzi and Marina Vitolo with the vocal participation of Giancarlo Ratti: a comic mystery set in Vico Equense.
Cinema under the stars - Vivi il Cinema!
From June 27 to July 16, the Arena hosts the third edition of Vivi il Cinema!, curated by Zètema Progetto Cultura and the Fondazione Cinema per Roma: about twenty titles and guests, with the inauguration entrusted to Sonia Bergamasco who presents the screening of Come un gatto in tangenziale by Riccardo Milani.
Week of July 7-12
- July 7-8 - Vincent, written and directed by Giacomo Nappini Casuzzi, a journey into Van Gogh's torment through videomapping and choreography
- July 9 - Italia. Le donne italiane al voto by Bruna Braidotti
- July 9-10 - Lievitomadre | Variazioni sul mito di Medea by Monica Attianese (national premiere)
- July 10 - The Knights by Aristophanes, directed by Cinzia Maccagnano
- July 11-12 - 80 voglia di stare con voi with Enrico Montesano
- July 11-12 - La locandiera, lo chef e gli altri, directed by Filippo D'Alessio, based on Goldoni
Week of July 20-26
- July 21 - The Mountain Giants by Luigi Pirandello, directed by Matteo Tarasco (Gabriele Lavia Company - Effimera Produzioni)
- July 22 - Pseudolus based on Plautus, directed by Enrico Zaccheo, with Eugenio Mastandrea, Enzo Curcurù, and Sergio Mancinelli
- July 23 - The Man Who Loved Women with Corrado Tedeschi, based on the film by Truffaut
- July 23-24 - Bitch Boxer by Charlotte Josephine, directed by Lorenzo Degl'Innocenti, with Viola Picchi Marchi
- July 24 - Shakespeare Enigma, directed by Stefano Reali, with Giusy Frallonardo and Marco Simeoli
- July 25 - Homer - Iliad with Gianluigi Tosto (translation by Vincenzo Monti)
- July 26 - Homer - The Odyssey with Gianluigi Tosto
Performances usually start at 9:00 PM. The calendar continues throughout the summer: the full and updated program is available at teatriincomune.roma.it and on the theatre's website.
Highlights Tor Bella Monaca Arena 2026
Prices Tor Bella Monaca Arena 2026
Practical information — Tor Bella Monaca Arena
Location
Arena of the Teatro Tor Bella Monaca, Via Bruno Cirino at the corner of Via Duilio Cambellotti, 00133 Rome (Municipality VI).
How to get there
By metro via Line C (Torre Angela / Torre Gaia stop) and continuing with local buses; by bus using line 20 and local lines. Ample parking is available nearby for those arriving by car.
Tickets
Full price tickets from 12-13 euros, reduced 10 euros, youth 8 euros; a 10-entry Gift Card is available for 78 euros. Presale and online purchase via the Vivaticket circuit. Shows generally start at 9:00 PM.
Information
Box office open Tuesday to Sunday; phone 06 2010579, e-mail [email protected], website teatrotorbellamonaca.it.
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Where does it take place — Tor Bella Monaca Arena
Arena del Teatro Tor Bella Monaca
Via Bruno Cirino, 00133 Roma