Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico, February 17, 2027

Back To Hawkins, the stage show with live music inspired by the imagery of the 1980s and the universe of Stranger Things, comes to Teatro Olimpico in Rome, at Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17, on Wednesday, February 17, 2027 at 20:30, for one night only. You get to the theater by metro line A to Flaminio and then tram 2 to the terminus at Piazza Mancini, from which about 500 meters remain on foot along Viale del Pinturicchio. The prices published by Teatro Olimpico range from €24 for the balconata laterale con balaustra to €39 for the poltronissima gold, plus the presale fee, which varies from €3.60 to €6. For kids under 12 there are reduced prices in almost all sections, and for online purchases a fee of €2 per ticket is added. Tickets are bought on the theater's official website, at the box office in Piazza Gentile da Fabriano or on the presale circuit authorized by the organizer.

Language: opera sung in its original language; no English surtitles are announced, so check with the theater.

Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico in brief

Back To Hawkins plays at Teatro Olimpico on Wednesday, February 17, 2027, from 20:30 to 22:30 according to the theater's calendar: two hours of live music, acting and projected images.

A single Roman date

Rome gets one evening only, a Wednesday, within a tour that crosses Italy from November 2026 to spring 2027. Anyone who misses it has to look to Naples, at the end of March, or to the other cities on the tour. For an audience of families and kids the midweek date weighs: it's best to decide early and choose the section well.

What you see

Teatro Olimpico presents it as a theatrical journey into the narrative universe of the 1980s: friendship, mystery, adventure, atmospheres of parallel dimensions and the moments that won over millions of spectators. On stage there are songs played live, actors and an apparatus of images that the production calls cinematic.

An independent production

The show states explicitly that it is an independent production, not affiliated with Netflix. The official website calls it a fan experience and a tribute created by fans for fans. It's a fact to know before buying a ticket: you are not going to see an official adaptation of the series, but a homage with original dialogue, staging and arrangements.

What Back To Hawkins is

Back To Hawkins is a musical theater show produced by Neon Rift Productions that combines acting, an 1980s soundtrack performed live and visual effects, inspired by the themes of Stranger Things without being an authorized version of it.

The name

Hawkins is the imaginary town where the series is set: the title says everything to the audience that followed it, and nothing to those who never saw it. The return to Hawkins is a return to the places of a story, and above all to a decade, that of bicycles, arcades and tapes recorded off the radio.

The music

The production's website speaks of a soundtrack built on the hits that defined the 1980s, played live, together with an original score. The setlist is not published: the production specifies only that the repertoire is made up of 1980s songs properly licensed through SIAE. This is the part that involves even those who never saw an episode: those who were kids in those years will recognize the songs before the characters.

The staging

The presentation insists on four elements: immersive storytelling, iconic moments reconstructed with theatrical precision, 1980s nostalgia and the so-called parallel dimension, rendered with lights, stage effects and images. Olimpico's stage, about 12 meters wide and 10 deep, suits a show that lives on projections and changes of atmosphere.

The stated limit

The official website repeats several times that Stranger Things, its characters, names and trademarks belong to Netflix, and that the show is an original creative work inspired by 1980s themes. Translated for the spectator: don't expect the characters' names on the billboards or a faithful reproduction of the scenes, expect original interpretations of recognizable figures. In our view it's the most honest choice possible for a homage, and for exactly this reason the result depends entirely on the quality of the performers on stage.

Neon Rift Productions and the Back To Hawkins tour

Back To Hawkins is presented by Neon Rift Productions, which has organized a tour of almost 30 dates across Switzerland and Italy, from Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano in November 2026 to Catanzaro in April 2027.

The debut in Lugano

The first announced date is November 15, 2026 at Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano, at 18:00. Then the tour descends into Italy: Turin at Teatro Alfieri on November 19, Varese on the 20th, Alessandria on the 26th, Alba on the 27th and Genoa, at Teatro della Corte Ivo Chiesa, on the 28th.

December between Bologna, Milan and Sicily

In December the show plays Teatro Celebrazioni in Bologna on December 3, Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber in Milan on December 4, Cremona on December 5, then Palermo and Catania on December 11 and 12, Ferrara on December 18, Mantova on December 19, Florence on December 28 and Grosseto on December 29. It's a dense calendar built around the holidays, and it says a lot about the audience they're after: families, kids on vacation, groups of friends.

2027 and Rome

In 2027 the tour starts again from Montecatini on January 15, goes through Lecce, Bitritto near Bari, Pescara, Ascoli Piceno, Arezzo and Assisi, and reaches Rome on February 17. After the capital come Naples and Salerno in late March, Reggio Calabria on March 31 and Catanzaro on April 2, while the Messina date is listed as being rescheduled. With its 1,410 seats, Olimpico is the largest venue in central Italy on the tour.

A cast in the making

The production's website has opened a nationwide casting call for 2026, with profiles divided by category: performers aged 16 to 18, adults aged 35 to 50, interns as production assistants on tour. The performers' names haven't been published. In the theater you'll see a young company, and you'll find the cast details, if there are any, in the house program.

Back To Hawkins and the 1980s phenomenon

Back To Hawkins works on one specific phenomenon: the return of 1980s pop culture among an audience that never lived through those years, and among parents who remember them very well.

Two generations in the audience

That's the strength and the risk of this kind of show. In the audience there will be kids who know the series by heart and adults who know the songs by heart. The theater puts it in its own way: an event designed for fans, but able to surprise anyone. It's worth adding that it's one of the rare shows on the bill where fathers and sons have different reasons, equally good, to sit side by side.

Why in a theater

A theater offers what the screen doesn't: music played in the same room, light effects that sweep over the audience, a crowd reacting together. For a story built on fear and on the friendship of a group of kids, the dark hall of a big theater is the natural place.

What to expect

Expect a story told in scenes rather than a finished plot: recognizable moments, songs, moods. Anyone looking for a musical with a libretto and an original score may end up disappointed, while anyone looking for two hours of immersion in a beloved imaginary world will get what they came for.

Teatro Olimpico: the stage of Back To Hawkins

Teatro Olimpico in Piazza Gentile da Fabriano began as a movie theater in 1936 and has had this name since 1981. Facing Lungotevere Flaminio at the level of Ponte della Musica, it is home to a large part of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana's season.

A building from the 1930s

The block was built between 1935 and 1936 by the firm Garbarino, Sciaccaluga and Mezzacane for the Società Generale Immobiliare, while the Flaminio neighborhood and Foro Italico were taking shape. Until the 1950s the hall worked mostly as a movie theater, with variety shows between screenings. For a show that blends theater and projected images, it's almost a return to its origins.

The citizens' theater

After the war the Accademia Filarmonica Romana rented the hall for its concerts. When the owning company went bankrupt at the end of the 1970s and the building was put up for sale, the Filarmonica's president Adriana Panni launched a subscription drive among citizens. It gave rise to Teatro Olimpico spa, which bought the theater in 1980. Since 1981 the program has opened up to drama, dance, comedy and pop music.

How the hall is laid out

The hall has 1,410 seats: 966 in the orchestra, on sloping rows arranged like an amphitheater, and 444 in the gallery, horseshoe-shaped. The stage measures about 10 meters deep by 12 meters wide and has an orchestra pit. The building, in reinforced concrete with a travertine base, has been restored to its late Rationalist look, and the theater itself describes it as a hybrid between a variety theater and a movie house.

Tickets and prices for Back To Hawkins

Tickets for Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico cost from €24 to €39 plus a presale fee, with discounts for kids under 12 and a fee of €2 per ticket for buying online.

The price list, section by section

Poltronissima gold €39 plus €6 presale fee, with no discount for under-12s. Poltronissima laterale €36 plus €5.40, reduced €25.20 plus €3.80. Poltrona and balconata €32 plus €4.80, reduced €22.40 plus €3.40. Balconata with balustrade €30 plus €4.50, reduced €21 plus €3.20. Balconata laterale €25 plus €3.80, reduced €17.50 plus €2.60. Balconata laterale with balustrade €24 plus €3.60, reduced €16.80 plus €2.50. The theater specifies that the presale fee is always required when the ticket is issued.

Where to buy them

Tickets are sold on the official Teatro Olimpico website, which links to its own online sales system, at the box office, or through the presale network authorized by the organizers. For information the theater gives the address biglietti@teatroolimpico.it.

Where to sit with a family

For a show of images and lights, the overall view matters more than being close. The central balconata costs the same as the poltrona and offers a complete frontal view of the stage and the projections. With kids under 12 the saving on the reduced ticket is real in every section except poltronissima gold: for a family of four, the difference between poltronissima gold and balconata is more than €30, and the balconata, for this show, has the better view.

How to get to Teatro Olimpico for Back To Hawkins

Teatro Olimpico is reached by metro line A to Flaminio and tram 2 to the terminus at Piazza Mancini, then about 500 meters on foot along Viale del Pinturicchio to Piazza Gentile da Fabriano.

Metro and tram

From Flaminio station on line A, in Piazzale Flaminio, tram 2 runs up Via Flaminia to Piazza Mancini. From Termini the route is the same: metro A to Flaminio, then the tram. Those who use the Roma Nord railway also get off at Flaminio and continue by tram.

Buses

The theater lists lines 220, 232, 233, 280, 301, 446, 48, 910 and 911 as useful. The 910, leaving from Termini, stops at Pannini, about 300 meters away. Lines 200, 201 and 53 also terminate at Piazza Mancini, and the night bus n24 passes there, handy for the return.

By car

From the center you take Viale del Muro Torto toward Piazzale Flaminio, then Via Luisa di Savoia, Lungotevere Arnaldo da Brescia and Lungotevere delle Navi to Lungotevere Flaminio. From the north you follow Lungotevere Maresciallo Diaz, cross Ponte Duca d'Aosta and turn right. On Wednesday parking is less complicated than on weekends, but on show nights the area fills up early.

How to plan the evening of Back To Hawkins

With a 20:30 start and an expected end at 22:30, Back To Hawkins calls for a well-organized midweek evening, especially with kids who have school the next day.

Before the show

In mid-February it gets dark shortly after 17:30. If you have the afternoon free, you can stop by MAXXI or Auditorium Parco della Musica, both a short distance away, and have dinner in the area around 19:00. At the theater it's best to arrive 20 minutes early: the foyer has a lot to show.

After the show

At 22:30 the square empties in a few minutes. Tram 2 and the lines at Piazza Mancini take you back toward the center, and if you're driving, the exit traffic is concentrated on the lungotevere. With kids, plan on getting home around 23:00.

Where to eat before Back To Hawkins

Around Teatro Olimpico, between Piazza Mancini, Via Flaminia and Piazza Gentile da Fabriano, there are pizzerias, trattorias and bars used to the theater and Auditorium crowds.

An early dinner

For a family the simplest solution is a pizza at 19:00, a few steps from the theater. On Wednesday some places have reduced hours, so it's best to check before heading out.

After the theater

On a weekday, Flaminio closes early. If you want to eat something after 22:30, Milvian Bridge, a few minutes away by car or taxi, has the places that stay open longest.

With a group

For groups of kids or parties of families, book a table even before buying the tickets: in the half hour before the show, the nearby places all fill up at once.

Accessibility at Teatro Olimpico

If you have reduced mobility and want to see Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico, you need to contact the box office before buying, writing to biglietti@teatroolimpico.it.

What to ask

Ask which seats are suitable, how to get into the hall and what conditions apply for companions. The orchestra is sloped and the gallery is on the upper floor: two things to consider when choosing a section.

Lights, sounds and effects

A show built on light effects, dark atmospheres and live music can be intense for anyone sensitive to strobe lights or loud volumes. The production doesn't publish specific warnings, so if you have doubts, you do well to ask the theater before buying.

Back To Hawkins with kids and teenagers

Back To Hawkins has reduced prices for under-12s, a sign the theater considers it suitable for a young audience too, though with atmospheres that the presentation itself calls mysterious and full of tension.

The right age

The series the show takes its inspiration from mixes adventure and fear. For kids who know it, from age 11 or 12 up, it's the ideal evening. For younger children, who don't know it, two things matter: their tolerance for the dark and for the effects, and the evening hour on a Wednesday. For any age guidance, go by what the theater has communicated.

An idea for parents

Prepare for the evening with the kids by letting them play you a few songs from the 1980s, and ask them to explain the series to you. You'll arrive at the theater each with your own half of the story.

Flaminio around Back To Hawkins

Teatro Olimpico is in the Flaminio neighborhood, north of Piazza del Popolo, in a stretch of the city that brings together Auditorium, MAXXI, Ponte della Musica and Foro Italico.

20th-century architecture

Flaminio is a neighborhood with a 20th-century layout: the theater from the 1930s, Foro Italico on the other side of the river, Auditorium Parco della Musica and MAXXI a few hundred meters away. For an afternoon with kids, MAXXI is the choice closest to the spirit of the evening.

Toward the center

Heading down Via Flaminia you meet the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, on the edge of Villa Borghese, and finally Piazza del Popolo, where tram 2 starts.

Back To Hawkins in the Teatro Olimpico season

Back To Hawkins opens a busy week at Teatro Olimpico: after Selene Calloni Williams with Tu sei la Foresta, and before Pink Floyd Legend with Guy Pratt on February 18 and 19 and Alessandro Bergonzoni with Arrivano i Dunque on February 20 and 21.

A week of tributes and words

In a few days the same stage goes from the 1980s of Hawkins to the rock of Pink Floyd and to Bergonzoni's invented language. It's the sign of a program built for different audiences, which is the true identity of Olimpico.

After February

Right after Bergonzoni the season continues with Momix and Botanica, one of the most anticipated titles of the winter. The same season also includes Slava's Snowshow and Angelo Pintus: two shows suited to the same family audience.

A curiosity about Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico, February 17, 2027

The most interesting curiosity concerns who goes on stage. The production's website has opened a nationwide casting call and is looking, among other profiles, for performers aged 16 to 18. That means that on Olimpico's stage there will in all likelihood be kids only slightly older than those in the audience. For a show dedicated to a story of teenagers it's a coherent choice, and a rare one. Professional Italian theater rarely puts such young performers on stage in a tour of 30 dates.

Second curiosity: the tour started in Switzerland. The first date announced by the production is November 15, 2026 at Palazzo dei Congressi in Lugano, at 18:00, before entering Italy from Turin. Rome comes mid-tour, after more than 20 performances: the company you'll see on February 17 will have run the show in at theaters of every size.

Third curiosity, a legal one. The production declares that dialogues, staging and arrangements are original creations, and that the 1980s songs are licensed through SIAE. It's the way a tribute can exist without being a copy: a lesson in craft, even before law.

Something nobody tells you about Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico, February 17, 2027

Nobody says it, but Teatro Olimpico began as a movie theater. Between 1936 and the 1950s the hall in Piazza Gentile da Fabriano showed films, with variety shows in the intervals. Only afterward did it become the home of the Filarmonica and then of drama, dance and music. A show that brings the imaginary world of a series to the theater, with projected images and live music, takes the hall back to its dual nature of cinema and variety.

And there's another thing that the audience of a pop show usually overlooks. In Olimpico's foyer and corridors are kept sets signed by great artists of the 20th century for shows staged right here: the gilded forms by Corrado Cagli for Stravinsky's Mass in 1975, the backdrop by Giacomo Manzù for Histoire du soldat in 1966, the sculpture by Mirko for Chordination in 1968. Works made for a few nights and still here.

For an evening devoted to parallel worlds, stopping in front of that Manzù backdrop before going into the hall is a small extra trip through time. The kids will look at the poster, and you look at the wall.

The advice I give you for visiting Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico, February 17, 2027

The first piece of advice is about the seat. For a show made of images, lights and effects, the central balconata is worth more than poltronissima: you see the whole stage picture, projections included, and you spend less. Poltronissima gold only makes sense for those who want the actors' faces a few meters away, and it costs €39 with no discount for kids. With a family, central balconata and reduced under-12 tickets: it's the most sensible combination on the price list.

Second piece of advice: prepare the little ones. The presentation talks about mysterious atmospheres and tension, and the series the show is inspired by has moments of real fear. A child who knows what's coming has fun, while one who doesn't may spend the evening with their head on a parent's arm.

Third piece of advice: on Wednesday night, don't arrive by car at the last minute. Metro A and tram 2 are the most reliable choice, and with kids the tram ride back becomes part of the evening.

Last piece of advice: arrive curious, not demanding. It's an independent tribute, not an authorized work. Judge it by the company's energy and by the live music, and you'll have a good evening.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It's known that 1980s culture came back into fashion thanks to TV series. It's less remembered that the theater welcomed it first, many years before streaming, and that Teatro Olimpico was one of the Roman stages for it. In February 1988 Marillion, one of the British bands of that decade, played on Olimpico's stage. In April 1982 Momix made their debut here, and since then they've come back to Olimpico almost every season. Anyone who sees the 1980s rebuilt on stage on February 17 will do so in a hall that hosted those years live.

Another known fact that's rarely mentioned: Teatro Olimpico doesn't belong to a public body or to a large entertainment group. It belongs to a joint-stock company born in 1980 from a subscription among citizens, promoted by Adriana Panni, president of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana. This model explains a program that in the same week welcomes a tribute to the 1980s, a progressive rock band and a theater-of-words author like Bergonzoni. A theater that has to fill the hall on its own learns to speak to different audiences, and the audience of Back To Hawkins is among the youngest of the season.

The right photo to take at Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico, February 17, 2027

The right photo is taken outside, before going in. From Ponte della Musica, across from Piazza Gentile da Fabriano, in February at 20:00 it's pitch dark: the lights of the bridge, the black Tiber below, the illuminated Rationalist facade of the theater. It's an image with the atmosphere of a 1980s film, the best one to tell the story of the evening.

With the kids, photograph them in front of the entrance with the poster behind them, about 20 minutes before the start, when the square fills with fans. If anyone arrives dressed for the theme, this is the right moment: after the show the crowd heads out fast toward the tram.

Inside the hall, the theater's rules on filming apply. In a show built on darkness and stage lights, a lit screen in the orchestra ruins the effect for those sitting behind, and photos taken from your seat capture nothing of what you see live.

The photo few people take is the one of Manzù's backdrop in the foyer. A kid in a 1980s sweatshirt in front of a work from 1966 is, in its way, a portrait of how eras coexist in a Roman theater.

Some important events that took place here in history

On March 4, 1965 Pierre Boulez conducted at Teatro Olimpico the Italian premiere of Igor Stravinsky's Abraham and Isaac and the European premiere of his Elegy for Kennedy. It is the most important date in the hall's musical history, and it shows the weight the Accademia Filarmonica Romana had in the Rome of those years.

In the following years Olimpico hosted productions in which art and music worked together: Stravinsky's Histoire du soldat from October 11 to 14, 1966, with Manzù's backdrop, Niccolò Castiglioni's Tre misteri in 1968, with Mirko's sculpture, and Stravinsky's Mass from October 29 to 31, 1975, with Cagli's gilded forms.

In 1980 Teatro Olimpico spa was born, and it bought the building thanks to the citizens' subscription. From 1981 the program widens: Momix make their debut at Olimpico in April 1982, Marillion arrive in February 1988, and the Lindsay Kemp Company brings A Midsummer Night's Dream in February 1989. In the 1990s came Mikhail Baryshnikov with the White Oak Dance Project, October 10 to 15, 1995, and the Bolshoi, September 23 to 26, 1996. In the 2009/2010 season the Agis rankings placed Olimpico second in Rome and seventh in Italy for number of spectators. A pop show for families like Back To Hawkins is the direct consequence of that 1981 opening.

Who has passed through Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico, February 17, 2027

On the stage that hosts Back To Hawkins on February 17, musicians such as Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Jessye Norman, Zubin Mehta, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Luigi Dallapiccola and Pierre Boulez have appeared, tied to the long history of the Accademia Filarmonica Romana.

For pop music the theater's memory holds Marillion, Pooh in October 1994, Lucio Dalla with Henna in April of the same year, Nomadi and Giorgio Gaber, who brought Un'idiozia conquistata a fatica there on January 28, 1998. For dance, Baryshnikov, Joaquín Cortés, Lindsay Kemp, Maurice Béjart with his Ballet Lausanne in 2004, the Bolshoi, Antonio Gades and Momix, who return to Olimpico almost every season. Among the protagonists of its history the theater also remembers Dario Fo and Nicola Piovani, and for comedy Gigi Proietti, Enrico Brignano, Vincenzo Salemme, Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, and Lillo and Greg.

It's a list that mixes genres and generations, and it explains well why an independent tribute to the 1980s finds a place in this hall. Olimpico has always been a theater of encounters between different audiences. On February 17 the encounter will be between kids raised on streaming and parents raised on audio cassettes, sitting in the same rows where the audiences of Boulez and of Baryshnikov once sat.

Frequently asked questions about Back To Hawkins in Rome

When is Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico?

Back To Hawkins is on at Teatro Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday, February 17, 2027 at 20:30, for one night only, with an expected end at 22:30. The show is part of the 2026/2027 season of the theater in Piazza Gentile da Fabriano 17.

How much do Back To Hawkins tickets cost in Rome?

Tickets for Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico range from €24 to €39 plus a presale fee of €3.60 to €6. For under-12s there are reduced prices from €16.80 to €25.20 in all sections except poltronissima gold, and buying online adds a fee of €2 per ticket.

Is Back To Hawkins the official Stranger Things show?

No: Back To Hawkins is an independent production by Neon Rift Productions, expressly not affiliated with Netflix. It's a tribute inspired by the universe of the series and by the 1980s, with original dialogues, staging and arrangements and songs of the era played live.

What do you see in Back To Hawkins?

Back To Hawkins combines live music, acting and projected images in a story of friendship, mystery and adventure set in the 1980s. The soundtrack is made of hits from that decade and an original score. The setlist isn't published.

Is Back To Hawkins suitable for kids?

Back To Hawkins has reduced tickets for under-12s, but it has atmospheres of mystery and tension: it's ideal for kids who know the series, from age 11 or 12. For younger ones, the effects in the dark and the evening hour on a Wednesday weigh in.

How do you get to Teatro Olimpico by public transit?

Teatro Olimpico is reached by metro A to Flaminio and tram 2 to Piazza Mancini, then about 500 meters on foot. The 910 from Termini stops at Pannini, about 300 meters away, and on the return the night bus n24 passes at Piazza Mancini.

Is Teatro Olimpico wheelchair accessible?

To attend Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico with reduced mobility, it's best to write to the box office before buying, at biglietti@teatroolimpico.it, to find out the suitable seats and the conditions for companions.

Final advice on Back To Hawkins at Teatro Olimpico

Take the kids, and let them explain the story to you while you recognize the songs. Central balconata, reduced under-12 tickets, metro and tram on the way there: the evening costs less than it seems and gives back more than it promises. It's a tribute, and as a tribute it should be taken, but a tribute done well, in a theater born as a movie house, is worth the trip to Flaminio.

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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