Velia Teatro Festival

The 28th edition, from July 27 to September 15, 2025

In 2025, the Velia Teatro Festival offered nine evenings spread over nearly two months, under the motto «Tear the veil, the truth remains»: a play on words on the name Velia that summarized the festival's approach, dedicated to the search for truth through ancient texts. The heart of the program was in Ascea, in the province of Salerno, between the Zenone Arena of the Fondazione Alario and the Acropolis of Elea-Velia, with an opening performance of comedy — The Knights by Aristophanes in the "La bottega del pane" version by Cinzia Maccagnano — and a journey that then alternated between epic, philosophy, and tragedy.

Among the most anticipated moments were the premiere of Lucretius' De Rerum Natura with Gianluigi Tosto, the dialogue-evening The Greeks, hypothesis and doubt with jurist Emanuele Stolfi, and Medea and Clytemnestra by Angela Malfitano. The festival also confirmed its widespread vocation, with a free stop in the village of Ortodonico di Montecorice and two performances in September at the auditorium of Palinuro, which extended the season beyond the summer.

July 2025

• Sunday, July 27 — The Knights by Aristophanes, in the La bottega del pane version by Cinzia Maccagnano — Zenone Arena, Fondazione Alario, Marina di Ascea.

August 2025

• Saturday, August 2 — Iliad by Homer, with Gianluigi Tosto — Acropolis of Elea-Velia.
• Monday, August 4 — Concert from the VI Book of the Aeneid by Virgil, with Matteo Belli and original music by Paolo Vivaldi, introduced by Antonella Prenner — Piazza Tommaso Amoresano, Ortodonico di Montecorice, free admission.
• Tuesday, August 5 — The Greeks, hypothesis and doubt, with Emanuele Stolfi and Gianluigi Tosto.
• Wednesday, August 6 — De Rerum Natura by Lucretius, with Gianluigi Tosto: first performance.
• Saturday, August 9 — Epitrepontes by Menander, with the company of Roberto Zorzut.
• Monday, August 18 — The Best Man. The dream of Achilles and Patroclus, directed by Tommaso Garré.
• Wednesday, August 20 — Medea and Clytemnestra, with Angela Malfitano.

September 2025 — Palinuro Auditorium

• Tuesday, September 9 — Concert from the VI Book of the Aeneid with Matteo Belli, preceded by an introductory lecture.
• Monday, September 15 — Odyssey by Homer, with Gianluigi Tosto, preceded by an introductory lecture.

• Nine evenings and the motto «Tear the veil, the truth remains».
• First performance of De Rerum Natura by Lucretius with Gianluigi Tosto.
• Comic opening with The Knights by Aristophanes in the version by Cinzia Maccagnano.
• Free evening in Ortodonico di Montecorice with Matteo Belli and music by Paolo Vivaldi.
• Medea and Clytemnestra by and with Angela Malfitano.
• Two September performances at the Palinuro auditorium, with introductory lectures.