Festival Spotlight: In Scena! Elevates Solo Voices from Italy to New York City
- Yani Perez
- 15 hours ago
- 6 min read
Now in its twelfth year, the In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY returns to the five boroughs with a diverse theatrical lineup that reflects the breadth and complexity of Italian contemporary performance. Founded as a cultural bridge between Italy and New York, the festival is co-produced by Kairos Italy Theater (KIT), KIT Italia, and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU. The 2025 edition features works ranging from poetic drama to politically charged storytelling. It includes a striking array of solo shows- highlighting the enduring power of the single performer to captivate and connect.
Each year, In Scena! presents a carefully curated lineup that showcases Italy’s rich theatrical landscape. A notable aspect of the festival is its inclusion of solo performances, a form that has been thoughtfully represented in past editions and remains in this year’s offerings. With themes spanning immigration, memory, identity, and humor, these solo works offer a window into Italy’s artistic soul while speaking to universal truths.
To learn more about the role of solo work in the festival and the curatorial philosophy behind it, All About Solo had the opportunity to ask In Scena!’s Artistic Director Laura Caparrotti and Associate Director Donatella Codonesu a few questions. Their insights reveal a deep appreciation for the intimacy and power of solo storytelling and the magic that unfolds when actor and audience meet in a shared space.
This year’s lineup includes several solo shows. What draws you to solo performance as a form, and what do you think makes a solo piece resonate across cultural boundaries?
Associate Director Donatella Codonesu: Every year we send out a call to collect proposals from artists and companies willing to come to New York for In Scena!. We do not look specifically for solo shows, but we welcome them and we’ve always had a few in previous editions. More than any other theater form, solo shows are based on the actor’s talent and charisma, and demand the audience participation as they have to imagine what the narrative is evocating. With this regard, solo shows are the most “magic” ones, and their magic is not limited by cultural boundaries. Theater is a universal art form, and our 12 years of In Scena! proves that the acting and the voice of the actor, supported by the English supertitles, always reach a varied audience.
Artistic Director Laura Caparrotti: As Donatella stated, we are not looking for a specific form of theater. I do think that Solo Shows are easier to produce in an economy that doesn’t support much independent theater. That said, in Italy there is also a very strong tradition of storytelling. You may think of the Nobel prize Dario Fo and I can add so many names that in Italy make storytelling a very robust and common way to do theater. This is why we have a substantial number of solo shows every year to choose from.
What qualities or themes typically elevate a solo show into the final selection?
Donatella: The show's high standard is a must. We look for sensitive, talented actors and usually for universal stories, relevant to contemporary society. The themes can be quite different; so far, we have had solo shows inspired by Greek tragedy, related to the mafia and holocaust, environment, family memories, standup comedy and slam poetry. In all of them, the actor’s energy and expressiveness has been a bridge to reach the audience, gain their attention and embrace them. At the end of each performance, we also provide a moment to meet and share with the audience. That is undoubtedly an enrichment, and our actors have always been open and glad for that. I guess that their humanity is a quality that we look for as well.
Laura: I second Donatella and personally, as an actor and director, I look for being taken by the performance and the performer. You don’t need much technical support if you are a great actor telling a very well written story. For instance, this year we had The Perky Theresas and we did it in a place where we had stage lights and in one where we had a very general wash that couldn’t be changed at all. the actor, Alessio Piazza, and the story was so powerful that no one noticed that it didn’t have a light plot. When you can perform your piece everywhere it means that the piece is perfect and this is what I am always looking for. We have been very privileged to have had so many beautiful solo shows to choose from.
On the production side, are there elements specific to solo work that make it more compelling or more challenging to program?
Laura: Absolutely not! They are very easy to program, they fit almost everywhere and are easy to adapt. Sometimes there are exceptions, of course. Last year, for instance, we had a solo show that was very challenging on the technical side. When you have a festival that goes to the 5 NYC boroughs and every venue has a very limited number of hours for tech, even a solo show is complicated. Usually, solo shows are not complicated and reveal a high sense of creativity and imagination. This year solo shows have been treasures, beautiful, funny and moving. I cannot be happier!
Translation and accessibility are clearly important to In Scena!’s mission. How does that influence your selection process for solo shows, which often rely so heavily on language and the individual performer’s voice?
Donatella: After producing English supertitles for over a decade for many different performances, we know that any show can be accessible, providing the appropriate support. Therefore, I would not say that the selection process is influenced by our consideration for accessibility, but rather that we carefully look at each selected solo show in order to understand all its implications, to translate and supertitle it in a way that is consistent both with its form and content. We are proud to have built a reputation on translation and accessibility, dedicating to each show a special care, adapting our work to its specific needs, in order to present the original voice of the performer in translation. Finally, providing that supertitles are totally integrated in the performance, we allow the audience to fully understand and enjoy it.
5. How do you see the solo format evolving at In Scena! in the coming years? What kinds of stories, styles, or voices are you hoping to showcase in future editions of the festival?
Laura: What an interesting question! Personally, there are some artists who are a beacon of storytelling in Italy that I would love to have at the Festival. Marco Baliani, for instance, who is a very powerful performer and storyteller. What I hope is to keep having different kinds of solo shows, like this year. And to have both stories based on real events and fiction. And a new form like this year we had a slam poetry solo show, first time ever for us!
Thank you, Laura and Donatella, for taking time from your busy run. We wish you all the best! And we'll see you next year.
May 5- May 19, 2025
In Scena will take place in all five boroughs of NYC
Venues for the 2025 festival include:
Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo’ at NYU (24 W 12th St, NY)
The Rat NYC (68-117 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY)
BAAD (2474 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY)
Culture Lab LIC (5-25 46th Ave, Long Island City, NY)
Calandra Institute (25 W 43rd St Suite 1700, New York, NY)
NOoSPHERE Arts (520 Kingsland Ave, Brooklyn, NY)
WOW Cafe Theater (59-61 E 4th St #4, New York, NY)
Casa Belvedere (79 Howard Ave, Staten Island, NY)
The Atelier at Theaterlab (357 W 36th St., 4th floor, New York, NY)
The Tank (312 W 36th St., New York, NY 10018)
The Italian Cultural Institute NY (686 Park Ave, NY, NY 10065)
Admission to all shows and events in the festival is FREE, unless otherwise noted.
All shows will be performed in Italian with English supertitles, unless otherwise noted.
For more information and to reserve seats, please visit www.inscenany.com.
Yani Perez, M.F.A., is a poet, playwright, translator, and educator. Her plays have been presented in various theaters in the United States, such as La Mama and Yale University, as well as internationally in Bogotá, Colombia. She works at IATI Theater, one of the oldest Latinx theaters in NYC. She is currently working on translations of Latinx artists in hopes of introducing them to English-speaking audiences.