Arteteca in Operazione Cicogna at Nuovo Teatro Orione, November 15, 2026

Operazione Cicogna, the two-act comedy with Arteteca, that is, Enzo Iuppariello and Monica Lima, is on stage on Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 21:00 at Nuovo Teatro Orione, Via Tortona 7 (00183 Rome), in the Appio Latino neighborhood. The text is by Enzo Iuppariello, Monica Lima and Ciro Ceruti, who also directs: a couple worn out by trying to have a child, a home artificial intelligence announcing the fertile window, a sister who may be pregnant, camorristi, disguises and a social worker on a visit. The theater can be reached by metro A, Re di Roma or Ponte Lungo stops, both about 300 meters away, or from Roma Tuscolana train station, about 700 meters away. Prices are published by the authorized presale network indicated by the theater, where tickets are sold. For information Nuovo Teatro Orione answers at 06 83546662 and at info@teatrorione.it.

Language: performed in Italian. No English version or English surtitles are announced.

Operazione Cicogna at Teatro Orione at a glance

Operazione Cicogna is a two-act comedy performed by the Neapolitan comedy duo Arteteca, on stage for one night only, Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 21:00, at Nuovo Teatro Orione in Rome.

Date and time

A single date, Sunday, November 15, 2026, starting at 21:00. It's the time given by the authorized presale network, which Roma Capitale's tourism portal links to. For a Sunday evening it's a late start: the night ends around midnight, and the trip home should be planned before going out.

The format

The official notes speak of a two-act stage show: a real comedy, with plot, characters and intermission, not a night of sketches. It's a detail that sets this work apart from the duo's TV appearances.

Who made the show

The text is written by Enzo Iuppariello, Monica Lima and Ciro Ceruti, and direction is by Ciro Ceruti. The trio has worked together for years, in film and TV, and this continuity shows in the writing.

Tickets

Tickets are sold on the authorized presale network indicated by the theater and Rome's tourism portal. The price isn't given in the theater's listing: you see it at the time of purchase, by section.

The plot of Operazione Cicogna

Operazione Cicogna tells of Enzo and Monica, a close couple worn out by trying to conceive a child, swept up in a series of misunderstandings on the day when everything should go according to plan.

The fertile window

It all starts when the home's artificial intelligence announces the opening of the fertile window. The race against time begins. It's a contemporary comedy opening: the technology that should simplify a couple's life becomes the engine of chaos.

Luisa arrives

Right at that moment Luisa arrives, Enzo's sister, who discovers she may be pregnant by an unknown father. The contrast is the comic spring: those who have been trying for a child for months and those who find themselves with one without trying.

A crescendo of misunderstandings

From there the situation spirals: swapped pregnancy tests, real camorristi, improvised disguises and a social worker who arrives to assess the couple's suitability for adoption. It's the classic mechanism of Neapolitan farce, with doors opening and closing and characters entering at the wrong moment.

The ending

The official presentation doesn't reveal the ending, and it won't be given away here. All that's known is that fate, which seemed hostile, in the end decides to surprise everyone.

Who Arteteca are: Enzo Iuppariello and Monica Lima

Arteteca are the Neapolitan comedy duo formed by Enzo Iuppariello and Monica Lima, also a couple in life, known to the general public for TV, for three feature films and for the sitcom Famiglia all'incontrario.

A couple on stage and in life

Enzo Iuppariello and Monica Lima always work as a pair, and their family also enters the work: in the sitcom Famiglia all'incontrario their daughter Sara Iuppariello acts. The characters they bring to the stage have their real names, Enzo and Monica, and grow with them from one project to the next.

Television

The duo is among the faces of the team of Made in Sud, the comedy variety show that has Arteteca in its cast. On December 15, 2015 they also starred in the first episode of Fatti unici, titled Scommesse struccate.

Cinema

Their film debut came with Natale a Londra, Dio salvi la regina. In 2016 they starred in Vita, cuore, battito, a comedy directed by Sergio Colabona, released on March 17, 2016 by 01 Distribution and produced by Tunnel Produzioni with Rai Cinema. The cast also included Nunzia Schiano, Francesco Cicchella and Sal da Vinci. In 2018 came the sequel, Finalmente sposi, directed by Lello Arena.

Enzo and Monica, always them

In the films the characters have their real names. In Vita, cuore, battito Enzo is a clerk in a clothing store and Monica a hairdresser and beautician, two 30-something sweethearts from the outskirts of Naples catapulted into a trip to Florence, Barcelona and Formentera. In Finalmente sposi they get married, lose their jobs and end up in Wolfsburg, Germany. In Operazione Cicogna they're trying for a child: the saga of Enzo and Monica continues on stage.

Arteteca's career between film and TV

From 2016 to 2022 Arteteca built, film after film, a recognizable comic couple, all the way to the Rai 2 sitcom Famiglia all'incontrario.

Vita, cuore, battito

The 2016 film comes from a story by Sergio Colabona and Luca Miniero, with a screenplay by Nando Mormone and Ciro Ceruti. The mechanism is the fish out of water: Enzo's boss wins a cultural trip at a gambling den, and the couple sets off, completely unprepared, among Europe's museums and beaches.

Finalmente sposi

The sequel, released on January 25, 2018 and directed by Lello Arena, tells of the wedding Monica dreamed of and the debts Enzo tallies up. The film grossed 1.1 million euros in its first two weeks, 520,000 in its first weekend. The cast also includes Ciro Ceruti, as Enzo's cousin.

Famiglia all'incontrario

In 2022 Rai 2 aired Famiglia all'incontrario, a miniseries in eight episodes of about a quarter of an hour, on Saturday afternoons from June 11 to 25. Created by Nando Mormone and directed by Sergio Colabona, it starred Arteteca and their daughter Sara Iuppariello, with Ciro Ceruti and Giulia Sara Salemi. The first episodes topped 400,000 viewers.

From set to stage

Operazione Cicogna brings the couple back to the theater with the same creative team: Ciro Ceruti, screenwriter of the two films and an actor in the sitcom, signs text and direction with the two leads. Those who know the films will find familiar characters. Those who haven't seen them will find a self-contained comedy.

Ciro Ceruti, author and director

Ciro Ceruti is co-author of the text and director of Operazione Cicogna, and for a decade he has been Arteteca's main writing partner.

The screenwriter

Ceruti wrote the screenplays of Vita, cuore, battito and Finalmente sposi with Nando Mormone. He is therefore the author who knows the characters of Enzo and Monica best, having built them on the page before the screen.

The actor

Not just a writer: in Finalmente sposi he plays Ciro, Enzo's cousin who takes in the couple in Germany, and in Famiglia all'incontrario he's Ciro again, the friend who loses his job the same day as Enzo. A constant presence in the duo's narrative universe.

Stage direction

In Operazione Cicogna Ceruti moves to directing. For a farce of misunderstandings, where the rhythm of entrances and exits is everything, having a director who wrote the text is a guarantee of precise comic timing.

A curious fact about Arteteca in Operazione Cicogna at Nuovo Teatro Orione, November 15, 2026

The most likable curious fact is that Enzo and Monica, the characters, grow older together with the actors. In the 2016 film they were two 30-something sweethearts from the outskirts, he a clerk, she a hairdresser. In 2018 they got married and lost their jobs at the same moment. In the 2022 sitcom they had a daughter, played by their real daughter, Sara Iuppariello. In Operazione Cicogna, on stage, they're dealing with the wish for a child and with an artificial intelligence that sets the couple's timing. It's a comic saga that follows the stages of a life, with the same names and the same pair of performers: a rarity in Italian comedy.

The second curious fact concerns the cast of their first film comedy. In Vita, cuore, battito Sal da Vinci appears as Don Sal: the same Sal da Vinci who in 2002 was Don Saverio in the first edition of the musical C'era una volta... Scugnizzi, and whom the Roman audience meets again, in a way, in the same season, with Claudio Mattone's musical at Teatro Sistina starting three days later.

A third curious fact: in their 2026 show home technology becomes a character. An artificial intelligence announcing the fertile window is a comic invention of today, grafted onto an ancient structure, that of the farce of misunderstandings.

Nuovo Teatro Orione: the history of the venue

Teatro Orione was born in the early 1950s in the Appio Latino neighborhood and today, as Nuovo Teatro Orione, has 980 seats and a large stage.

Opera, operetta and dance

In its early years the hall was a reference point for the city, with a program of opera and operetta and dance nights with the ballerina Ivana Gattei, as the history published by the theater recalls.

Podrecca and the Arena

In the 1960s came guest shows like I piccoli di Podrecca. Meanwhile its use as a cinema grew, and next to the theater the Arena was born, a space for summer screenings.

Film sets and rehearsals

In the 1970s the Orione became a film studio for movies such as La pretora, with Oreste Lionello and Edwige Fenech. In the 1980s, as the art-house cinema declined, the stage hosted rehearsals for major productions by Gigi Proietti and Ugo Tognazzi.

Television and dance

In the 1990s cinema was abandoned and the hall hosted TV productions, largely for Mediaset. In the 2000s, without a real artistic direction, it became a reference point for dance events.

The Nuovo Orione

With the new management the theater presents itself with a foyer designed for aperitivos with music and exhibitions, a theater course called Attori in corso and a declared line: rewarding the new, starting with a staging of new drama dedicated to Catiline.

Something nobody tells you about Arteteca in Operazione Cicogna at Nuovo Teatro Orione, November 15, 2026

What's rarely said is that the Orione has long been familiar with TV comedy. In the 1990s, once cinema was abandoned, the hall on Via Tortona hosted TV productions, largely for the Mediaset networks. Many of the comedy shows Italians watched from the couch passed through stages like this one, turned into studios. Seeing today a duo born on TV perform a real comedy, in two acts, on the same stage is a small reversal: from TV to theater, instead of the other way around.

The second thing concerns language. Arteteca come from Neapolitan comedy and their characters speak like the outskirts of Naples they come from. Those who don't know the dialect needn't worry: the farce of misunderstandings, with swapped tests, disguises and slamming doors, is understood with the eyes before the ears.

And a third, practical thing: with 980 seats the Orione is a big hall for a residential neighborhood. On the way out, around midnight, hundreds of people pour out together onto Via Tortona and toward the metro. It's best to decide in advance how you'll get home.

How to get to Nuovo Teatro Orione

Nuovo Teatro Orione, at Via Tortona 7, can be reached by metro A: the Re di Roma and Ponte Lungo stops are both about 300 meters away, and Via Appia Nuova is about 150 meters away.

By metro

From Termini, line A toward Anagnina reaches Re di Roma by way of San Giovanni. From Piazza dei Re di Roma you walk toward Via Appia Nuova and turn into Via Tortona. From the next stop, Ponte Lungo, the route is similar. On Sunday evening the time of the last run should be checked on ATAC's website.

By train

Roma Tuscolana station is about 700 meters as the crow flies from the theater: convenient for those coming from the province, but on Sunday evening the trains thin out.

By bus

Via Appia Nuova is served by several surface lines. On Sunday evening frequencies drop: the route should be planned with ATAC's planner, especially for the way back.

By car

Appio Latino is outside the downtown limited traffic zone. On Sunday evening parking is easier than on weekdays, but the streets around Appia Nuova are narrow and residential: better to leave with a quarter of an hour of margin.

My advice for Arteteca in Operazione Cicogna at Nuovo Teatro Orione, November 15, 2026

My advice is to choose your seat with the nature of the show in mind. A farce of misunderstandings lives on doors, entrances, disguises and swapped objects: the pregnancy tests passing from hand to hand are small, and those sitting too far away risk missing the detail that triggers the laugh. In a 980-seat hall it's best to go for the central orchestra, from the 10th to the 20th row, where you see the whole stage and the actors' faces together.

The second piece of advice concerns timing. The 21:00 Sunday start, with two acts and an intermission, brings the exit to around midnight. Those coming by public transport should check the last metro A run beforehand, and those coming by car should park on a street from which it's easy to leave. Having dinner beforehand is almost mandatory.

Third piece of advice: watch, or rewatch, Vita, cuore, battito beforehand. It isn't necessary to understand the show, but knowing the characters of Enzo and Monica, with their tics and obsessions, makes the situations in Operazione Cicogna more enjoyable.

Last piece of advice: buy your ticket in good time. A single date by a duo with a loyal audience fills up fast, and purchase should be made only on the authorized network indicated by the theater.

Another well-known fact, yet not often mentioned

It's well known that Neapolitan comedy has a very long theater tradition, made of farces and comic couples. Less often mentioned is that many comedians known from TV, when they go back to the theater, choose the more demanding format of the written comedy, with a plot and several acts, instead of a repertoire of sketches. Operazione Cicogna belongs to this choice: in our view it's the most serious way to test yourself in front of a live audience.

Another known but rarely recalled fact is that behind many Campanian comedy successes of recent years there's the same production team. Vita, cuore, battito and Famiglia all'incontrario bear the name of Tunnel Produzioni and the direction of Sergio Colabona. Nando Mormone is producer of the first film, co-writer of the two films' screenplays and creator of the sitcom. It's a working system that has shaped a common language, recognizable in the rhythm of the jokes.

Finally, about the theater: the Orione, today a hall for drama and entertainment, was for years a space for dance and for the recitals of the city's schools. In our view this popular history makes it a fitting venue for a popular comedy: a neighborhood theater, big, with no stiffness.

Appio Latino, the neighborhood of Teatro Orione

Via Tortona is in Appio Latino, the residential neighborhood between Via Appia Nuova and Via Latina, in Municipio VII.

Between Appia Nuova and Tuscolana

The theater is about 150 meters from Via Appia Nuova, the area's commercial axis, and a few hundred meters from Piazza dei Re di Roma. Farther east runs Via Tuscolana, with Roma Tuscolana station.

Green space nearby

To the south of the neighborhood opens the Caffarella Park. Those with a free Sunday can spend the afternoon there before the show, leaving before sunset, which comes early in mid-November.

San Giovanni a few stops away

Metro A connects the Orione to San Giovanni in a few minutes. Those coming from out of town can pair the show with a visit to the basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, checking the Sunday hours.

Other shows at the Orione

In the same season the Orione also hosted the family magic show Back to School and the dance of the crew Royal Family Europe: a popular and varied program.

How to organize the Operazione Cicogna night

With a 21:00 Sunday start and two acts with an intermission, the night at the Orione is organized as an early dinner followed by the show, getting home around midnight.

The afternoon

Those coming from out of town can spend the afternoon in the Parco della Caffarella or at San Giovanni, two metro stops from the theater, and move to Appio Latino toward evening.

Dinner

A pizza at 19:30 in one of the pizzerias on Via Appia Nuova or Piazza dei Re di Roma leaves time to reach the hall at 20:30, calmly.

The intermission

Between the first and second act there's time for a break in the foyer, which the Nuovo Orione has redesigned as a meeting space: it's worth taking advantage of it to talk over the misunderstandings of the first half.

Getting back

On the way out hundreds of spectators move together toward metro A: those in a hurry can walk to Ponte Lungo instead of Re di Roma, or vice versa, depending on the direction.

Where to eat near Teatro Orione

Appio Latino has a wide choice of pizzerias, neighborhood trattorias, bakeries and bars, concentrated along Via Appia Nuova and around Piazza dei Re di Roma.

Before the show

With the 21:00 start, dinner has to come first: a pizza around 19:30 in a local pizzeria leaves time to reach the hall without rushing. On Sunday evening neighborhood pizzerias fill up with families: booking is wise.

To stay on theme

For a Neapolitan comedy, pizza is almost a matter of consistency. Otherwise, a Roman neighborhood trattoria remains the safest choice before two acts in a theater seat.

After the show

At midnight on Sunday the area's kitchens are mostly closed. Those who want to end the night with something can look for a bar still open along Appia Nuova, without counting on it too much.

The right photo to take at Arteteca in Operazione Cicogna at Nuovo Teatro Orione, November 15, 2026

The right photo of this night is taken outside, before going in: the facade of Nuovo Teatro Orione on Via Tortona with its historic sign, on a November evening. It's a sign that tells 70 years of Roman popular entertainment, from operetta to cinema, from TV to dance, and photographed with the audience lined up in front it gives back the atmosphere of a neighborhood theater on sold-out nights.

The second photo is taken in the hall, before the lights go down: the 980-seat orchestra filling up, seen from the back, with the curtain closed. It's the image of the night from the audience's side, and it gives a sense of a hall bigger than you'd imagine from outside.

During the show the phone stays in your pocket. In a comedy of misunderstandings the jokes come at a fast pace, and a lit screen bothers the actors and those nearby. At the final applause, on the other hand, when Enzo Iuppariello and Monica Lima take the audience's ovation, a photo of the stage with the actors at the front is the best souvenir and nobody will complain.

A last idea: a photo with the show's poster in the foyer. For many Campanian spectators in Rome it's the souvenir of a night at home away from home.

Accessibility, age and practical information

Nuovo Teatro Orione doesn't publish detailed information on the accessibility of the hall: those with particular needs should contact the theater at 06 83546662 or info@teatrorione.it before the show.

Teenagers and families

The comedy touches on themes like pregnancy, adoption and the Camorra in a farcical key, and the time is late. It's suitable for older kids. For children, the 21:00 Sunday start is demanding. Any age limits are those indicated by the organization at the time of purchase.

Punctuality

With a 980-seat hall, getting in can take time: arriving at 20:30 lets you find your seat calmly.

Coat check and bags

The hall's rules apply for bags and allowed items. In mid-November the evening is cold: better a coat you can fold on your knees.

Some important events that happened here in history

The history of Teatro Orione begins in the early 1950s, when the hall opened in the Appio Latino neighborhood with a program of opera, operetta and dance nights with the ballerina Ivana Gattei. These were the years when the new neighborhoods along Via Appia Nuova got their own halls.

In the 1960s came I piccoli di Podrecca, while the hall worked more and more as a cinema and the Arena for summer screenings was born next door. In the 1970s the Orione became a film studio and movies such as La pretora, with Oreste Lionello and Edwige Fenech, were shot there. In the 1980s, with the art-house cinema over, the stage hosted rehearsals for major productions by Gigi Proietti and Ugo Tognazzi.

With the 1990s the cinema season ended: the hall became home to TV productions, mainly for Mediaset. In the 2000s, without a stable artistic direction, the Orione hosted mostly dance events. The most recent phase is that of the Nuovo Teatro Orione, with a management that focuses on new drama, a theater course and a foyer open to music and exhibitions.

On November 15, 2026 a chapter consistent with this popular history is added: a two-act Neapolitan comedy, written and performed by a duo born between TV and film, on the same stage that for decades served TV and film themselves.

Who has passed through Arteteca in Operazione Cicogna at Nuovo Teatro Orione, November 15, 2026

Across the Orione stage passed, in the 1950s, the ballerina Ivana Gattei and opera and operetta singers, in the 1960s the marionettes of the Piccoli di Podrecca, in the 1970s Oreste Lionello and Edwige Fenech, on the set of La pretora, and in the 1980s Gigi Proietti and Ugo Tognazzi for rehearsals of their shows. It's a genealogy that spans all of Italian entertainment of the late 20th century, in which comedy and popular theater always had a place.

In the 1990s came the TV crews, in the 2000s the city's dance companies. In the 2026 season the hall hosted, among others, family magic and top-level hip-hop dance.

On November 15 Enzo Iuppariello and Monica Lima pass through here, with Ciro Ceruti directing. And with them, in a way, passes the whole universe of Enzo and Monica built over 10 years: the clothing store and the beauty salon of Vita, cuore, battito, the bus to Wolfsburg of Finalmente sposi, the beauty center of Famiglia all'incontrario, Nunzia Schiano as Enzo's mother. A small Neapolitan comic world, moved for one night to Appio Latino.

Mid-November in Rome: the time of the show

In mid-November Rome is in full theater season, with cool and often rainy evenings.

The weather

November evenings can be damp: a folding umbrella is useful for the walk from the metro to the theater.

A Neapolitan week

In the same week, from November 18, Teatro Sistina hosts Claudio Mattone's musical C'era una volta... Scugnizzi: those who love Neapolitan culture on stage can build a themed week.

Frequently asked questions about Operazione Cicogna in Rome

When is Operazione Cicogna on at Teatro Orione?

Operazione Cicogna is on at Nuovo Teatro Orione on Sunday, November 15, 2026 at 21:00, for one date only. The theater is at Via Tortona 7, in the Appio Latino neighborhood, near the Re di Roma and Ponte Lungo stops on metro A.

Who are Arteteca?

Arteteca are the Neapolitan comedy duo formed by Enzo Iuppariello and Monica Lima. They're faces of Made in Sud and stars of the films Vita, cuore, battito from 2016 and Finalmente sposi from 2018 and of the 2022 Rai 2 sitcom Famiglia all'incontrario.

What is Operazione Cicogna about?

Operazione Cicogna tells of Enzo and Monica, a couple trying for a child: when the home artificial intelligence announces the fertile window, Enzo's sister arrives, possibly pregnant, and between swapped tests, camorristi, disguises and a social worker, the situation tumbles into a chain of misunderstandings.

Who wrote and directed Operazione Cicogna?

The text of Operazione Cicogna is by Enzo Iuppariello, Monica Lima and Ciro Ceruti, and direction is by Ciro Ceruti, already screenwriter of the films Vita, cuore, battito and Finalmente sposi with Nando Mormone. It's a stage show in two acts.

How do you buy tickets for Arteteca at Teatro Orione?

Tickets for Operazione Cicogna at Teatro Orione are sold on the authorized presale network indicated by the theater and Rome's tourism portal, where prices by section are also shown. For information the theater answers at 06 83546662 and info@teatrorione.it.

How do you get to Nuovo Teatro Orione?

Nuovo Teatro Orione can be reached by metro A, Re di Roma or Ponte Lungo stops, both about 300 meters from Via Tortona 7. Roma Tuscolana station is about 700 meters away. For buses it's best to use ATAC's route planner.

Is the show suitable for children?

Operazione Cicogna is a farcical comedy with adult themes, such as pregnancy, adoption and the Camorra, handled comically, and it starts at 21:00 on Sunday. It's suitable for older kids. For children the time is demanding. Any limits are indicated at the time of purchase.

My final advice on Operazione Cicogna at Teatro Orione

A comedy couple that for 10 years has brought the same characters to the screen and the stage, a farce of misunderstandings with an artificial intelligence as accomplice, a neighborhood theater with 70 years of popular entertainment behind it. My advice is to book a central orchestra seat early, have a pizza in Appio Latino and plan the trip home before going in: Enzo and Monica do the rest.

Article written by the editorial team of Tour Leader Pro, contact them for Private/Corporate/V.I.P. Tours and Experiences.

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