VeliaTeatro Festival — Montecorice in Summer
Ancient theatre and philosophy under the stars in the village of Ortodonico
About VeliaTeatro in Montecorice
Ancient theatre in the village of Ortodonico
The VeliaTeatro Festival is a series dedicated to the tragic and comic expressions of ancient theatre that has been enlivening Cilento, in the province of Salerno, since the late nineties, starting from the acropolis of Elea-Velia in Ascea. For three consecutive years, the Municipality of Montecorice, in Campania, has hosted one of the most evocative stages of the programme: the stage is set up in Piazza Tommaso Amoresano, in the heart of the ancient village of Ortodonico, a hillside hamlet overlooking the Cilento sea. The evening here is called «Montecorice in Summer» and is designed as a symposium under the stars, where words become an encounter and the audience sits in the square as if in a small, natural theatre.
A travelling festival across Cilento, Irpinia, and the Alto Casertano
VeliaTeatro is not tied to a single location: it is a travelling festival that crosses various municipalities in Campania throughout the summer. Alongside Ascea, the historic home of the event, the programme reaches Ortodonico di Montecorice, Rodio di Pisciotta, Castelnuovo Cilento, Palinuro, Roccagloriosa, and extends as far as Venticano, in the province of Avellino, and Pietravairano, in the province of Caserta. The organisation is managed by the Cilento Arte ETS association, with the patronage of the Campania Region, the host municipalities, and local protection bodies, starting with the Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Alburni National Park Authority.
The formula: lectio brevis and the performance
The festival's signature, particularly for the Ortodonico evenings, is the lectio brevis: before the show, a nationally renowned university professor introduces the text with a short talk, designed for a non-specialist audience. Philologists, historians of the ancient world, and philosophers have taken turns at this microphone over the years, paving the way for the actual performance. It is a way to bridge the gap between popularisation and theatre: those who arrive in the square without ever having read Homer or Plato still enter the story with the right tools.
A repertoire spanning nearly three thousand years
The repertoire draws from the roots of Mediterranean culture: the Homeric poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, performed in solo-voice versions; Greek tragedy, from Euripides onwards; the comedies of Aristophanes and Menander; the philosophical dialogues of Plato, from the Apology of Socrates to the Symposium; and contemporary rewritings that reinterpret myth through modern eyes. Live music — cello, viola da gamba, electronics — and sound installations complete a journey that brings together theatre, philosophy, music, and landscape.
Why here: Velia and the Eleatic school
The choice of Cilento is no coincidence. A few kilometres from Montecorice lies the ancient Elea-Velia, a colony founded by the Phocaeans in the 6th century BC and home to Parmenides and Zeno, founders of the Eleatic school and among the most decisive names in Western philosophy. The festival was born from there and retains that vocation: to put ancient thought into dialogue with the community that inhabits these places today. The evenings in the villages, such as the one in Ortodonico, serve precisely to bring a heritage that would otherwise remain confined to school books out of the archaeological park.
Ortodonico and Montecorice
Montecorice is a small municipality in coastal Cilento, with its seaside hamlets — Agnone, Case del Conte, San Nicola — and an inland area of hillside villages nestled among olive groves and Mediterranean scrub. Ortodonico is the highest historic village, a cluster of stone houses, narrow alleys, and panoramic squares from which, on clear days, the view reaches as far as the sea. Piazza Tommaso Amoresano, with its intimate layout, becomes an open-air auditorium for an evening: a few hundred seats, no invasive amplification, just the background noise of crickets.
What to expect
- Open-air evenings in the square, starting late when the air has cooled down.
- Mixed audience: residents, holidaymakers from the Cilento coast, and classical theatre enthusiasts.
- A slow and convivial pace, far removed from large urban festivals.
- The lectio brevis before the show, which makes even the most difficult texts accessible.
- An opportunity to discover an inland village that remains off the crowded beach circuits during the summer.
VeliaTeatro in Montecorice — edition 2026
Two evenings in the ancient village
For the third consecutive year, the Municipality of Montecorice hosts the VeliaTeatro Festival, now in its 29th edition. The two dates in Ortodonico, Tuesday, August 4, and Friday, August 7, 2026, are held in Piazza Tommaso Amoresano and are part of the «Montecorice in Summer» series: a symposium under the stars, as the organisers describe it, where the ancient village becomes a place of dialogue between classical thought and the Cilento community.
Both evenings maintain the festival's historic format: a lectio brevis entrusted to a university professor introduces the text, followed by the performance. August 4 is dedicated to philosophy, with Plato's Symposium; August 7 to epic poetry, with Homer's Iliad.
The two Montecorice dates are part of a broader programme: the 29th edition of the VeliaTeatro Festival runs from July 29 to September 19, 2026, and reaches, in addition to Ascea, the municipalities of Montecorice, Pisciotta, Castelnuovo Cilento, Centola-Palinuro, Roccagloriosa, Venticano, and Pietravairano, across the province of Salerno, Irpinia, and the Alto Casertano.
Programme VeliaTeatro in Montecorice 2026
Tuesday, August 4, 2026 — Ortodonico di Montecorice, Piazza Tommaso Amoresano
- 9:15 PM — lectio brevis «No one has ever seen Socrates drunk», by Massimo Adinolfi, Professor of Theoretical Philosophy at the University of Naples Federico II.
- Followed by Plato's «Symposium», directed and performed by Christian Poggioni, original music by Irina Solinas, costumes by Micaela Sollecito, and masks by Zorba Officine Creative.
Friday, August 7, 2026 — Ortodonico di Montecorice, Piazza Tommaso Amoresano
- In the evening — lectio brevis «The Iliad, stories of gods and heroes», by Luigi Vecchio, Professor of Greek History at the University of Salerno.
- Followed by Homer's «Iliad», in the solo-voice version directed and performed by Gianluigi Tosto.
The rest of the 29th edition (other venues)
- July 29 — Homer's «Iliad», opening night in Ascea.
- August 6 — «The Last Journey» by Giovanni Pascoli, national premiere, with Gianluigi Tosto.
- August 9 — Euripides' «Trojan Women».
- August 12 — Aristophanes' «Lysistrata», with students from the National Academy of Dramatic Art.
- August 13 and September 12 — «The Woman of Samos» and «The Arbitration» by Menander.
- August 17, September 4 and 16 — Plato's «Apology of Socrates» and «Symposium», directed by Christian Poggioni.
- August 22 and 23 — «Diptych of Myth, Today» by Paolo Puppa.
- August 26, September 5 and 11 — Homer's «Odyssey», solo-voice version by Gianluigi Tosto.
- August 29 — «EcoTonos», installation and sound performance with cello, viola da gamba, and electronics.
- September 17 — «Medea and Clytemnestra», from Dario Fo and Franca Rame, with Angela Malfitano.
- September 4, 7 and 19 — performances of the «Iliad».
Highlights VeliaTeatro in Montecorice 2026
- Plato's «Symposium» directed and performed by Christian Poggioni, with live music by Irina Solinas and masks by Zorba Officine Creative.
- Homer's «Iliad» in the solo-voice version by Gianluigi Tosto, one of the festival's staples.
- The two lectiones brevis entrusted to Massimo Adinolfi (University of Naples Federico II) and Luigi Vecchio (University of Salerno).
- The setting of Piazza Tommaso Amoresano, in the ancient village of Ortodonico, transformed into an open-air theatre.
- The third consecutive year of the Municipality of Montecorice hosting the «Montecorice in Summer» programme.
Prices VeliaTeatro in Montecorice 2026
Practical information — VeliaTeatro in Montecorice
How to get there
By car: from the A2 del Mediterraneo motorway, take the Battipaglia exit and continue on the SS 18 southwards to Agropoli, then along the Cilento coast towards Montecorice; Ortodonico can be reached via the provincial roads that climb up from the coast. By train: Agropoli-Castellabate or Vallo della Lucania-Castelnuovo stations on the Tyrrhenian line, then local buses or taxis. By plane: Salerno Costa d'Amalfi airport or Naples-Capodichino.
Where it takes place
The Montecorice performances are held in Piazza Tommaso Amoresano, in the ancient village of Ortodonico, a hillside hamlet of the Municipality of Montecorice (SA). The other evenings of the festival take place in Ascea (Arena Zenone and the Elea-Velia archaeological area) and in the other host municipalities.
Tickets
Entry conditions vary depending on the venue: some evenings hosted by the municipalities have been free of charge, while tickets for the performances in Ascea are available via online pre-sale and at the box office on the evening of the show. It is advisable to check each time by contacting the organisation (tel. +39 334 3266442, [email protected]) or by consulting the official website.
Tips
The village is hilly and partly cobbled: comfortable shoes are recommended. Seats in the square are limited, so it is best to arrive early. A light sweater is useful even in August, as the temperature drops in the evening in the hills. Nearby, you can combine your visit with the Archaeological Park of Elea-Velia, the village of Castellabate, and the beaches of Montecorice.
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Where does it take place — VeliaTeatro in Montecorice
Piazza Tommaso Amoresano, borgo antico di Ortodonico
Piazza Tommaso Amoresano, Ortodonico, 84060 Montecorice