The 2026 Season of La Soffitta Kicks Off, Featuring Music, Theatre, Dance, Visual Arts, Cinema, and New Media

The 2026 season of La Soffitta – the University of Bologna’s Centre for the Promotion of Live Performance launches a rich calendar of events, including talks, performances, concerts, exhibitions, workshops, and screenings, running until December 2026. All events are open to everyone and free of charge. Curated by the faculty of the Department of Arts and made possible thanks to support from the University of Bologna, the Emilia-Romagna Region, and the Municipality of Bologna, the season will take place mainly at Piazzetta Pier Paolo Pasolini 5/b in Bologna, but also in the departmental spaces of Palazzo Marescotti (via Barberia 4) and the Santa Cristina Complex (p.tta Morandi 2). All events are free and/or require the collection of a coupon before the start of performances.

This year’s programme is structured around two thematic strands: Bologna at the Crossroads of Cultures and History on Stage, both centred on the performative dimension as a tool for knowledge, research, and critical dialogue, and aimed at cultivating a wide, intergenerational audience.  

Bologna at the Crossroads of Cultures explores the intersections between cultures, artistic practices, and expressive languages – from music to dance, from visual arts to cinema and new media – highlighting Bologna’s vocation as a place of international dialogue and exchange. 
History on Stage, on the other hand, uses live performance to examine major historical, political, and social processes that continue to shape the present. In this sense, the two strands run throughout the programme, which functions as a single, cohesive project rooted in university research, audience development, and international outreach.

The first event of the season, scheduled for Tuesday 27 January at 19:30, is Mistero Buffo – Il primo miracolo di Gesù Bambino, performed by Mario Pirovano, long-time collaborator of Dario Fo and Franca Rame, and now a spokesperson for their theatrical legacy. One of the most urgent jester performances of our time will take the stage: a story that intertwines irony and political critique, highly relevant today amid the resurgence of aggressive policies. 

The Bologna at the Crossroads of Cultures strand will feature numerous events highlighting intercultural dialogue, the circulation of artistic languages, and the encounter between tradition and contemporary practices.

The programme for this strand opens in February with a concert by pianist Maurizio Baglini (4 February) – one of the most brilliant and internationally acclaimed musicians – as part of MIA - Musica Insieme in Ateneo, an initiative promoted by the Musica Insieme Foundation in collaboration with La Soffitta and the University of Bologna. The season will continue with a second concert on 15 April, featuring Carlo Boccadoro at the piano. Both concerts will include meetings with the artists (Baglini on 5 February and Boccadoro on 15 April) as part of the Storie Musicali series. Also in February, the Mikage Project trio will perform on 20 February, in collaboration with the Japanese Cultural Institute and the Asia Institute, exploring Japanese musical traditions reinterpreted in a contemporary key, further emphasising the international dimension of the festival.

In spring, the programme will continue with activities that combine teaching and performance, culminating between 15 and 17 May in "Negoziare i confini", alongside the international conference "Negotiating Borders Through Art".

In autumn, the season continues with Water and Spirit (September) and, in October, a performance-concert with Diego Baroni, bass clarinetist of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. On 14 November, Gagaku and Bugaku: Court Music and Dances of Japan, recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, will be presented by the Kidanokai Ensemble.

Alongside these events, the History on Stage strand, inaugurated on 27 January, will continue with "Un po’ meno fantasma" (9 February) at the DAMSLab Theatre; "Progetto Repubblica" on 12 March; and "Babele. La parabola della decostruzione della violenza" on 28 April.

The programme will conclude in autumn with the work of the Kepler-452 company (5–11 October) – Ubu Award 2025 winners – engaging students in reflections on the eightieth anniversary of the Monarchy-Republic referendum of 2 June 1946 and more broadly on voting rights and civic participation.

In addition to the two main strands, La Soffitta renews its partnership with the Premio Scenario, collaborating with the festival held at DAMSLab from 28 to 31 August, and including in its programme a performance selected from the Premio Scenario winners.

For more information and the full schedule, visit the La Soffitta website.