Brotti by Manuela Zero at Teatro Ghione, January 28, 2027

Brotti, the show by Manuela Zero subtitled E non ridere che sei come loro, is staged at Teatro Ghione, at Via delle Fornaci 37 in Rome, on Thursday, January 28, 2027 at 20:30, for a single performance. The prices published by the theater are 25 euros for the orchestra and 20 euros for the gallery, tickets are bought on the official Ghione website, which links to the authorized presale circuit, or by contacting the theater at 06 6372294. The Ghione sits between St. Peter's and the Janiculum: the most convenient option by public transport is the regional train to Roma San Pietro station, served by lines FL3 and FL5, a few minutes on foot away, from St. Peter's Square you can walk to the theater by way of Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri. On stage, alongside Manuela Zero, is a string and guitar trio: Martino Panna on guitar, Cecilia Drago on violin, Lucia Libassi on cello. Direction is by Davide Santi, production by Maximo Event.

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

Brotti at Teatro Ghione: date, time and prices

Brotti is scheduled at Teatro Ghione for a single evening, Thursday, January 28, 2027 at 20:30, with tickets at 25 euros for the orchestra and 20 euros for the gallery.

A single performance

The theater's listing shows one date only: Thursday, January 28, at 20:30. For a one-night show, in a hall of about 500 seats, it is best not to wait until the last day.

The prices

Teatro Ghione publishes two bands: 25 euros for the orchestra and 20 euros for the gallery. These are neighborhood drama theater prices, far lower than those of big entertainment shows.

Where to buy

The Ghione website allows online purchase through the authorized presale circuit, for information on seats and availability the theater answers at 06 6372294 and at info@teatroghione.it. The Ghione also notes that you can enter with the culture card.

The show: seven oversized stories

In Brotti, Manuela Zero, actress and singer, backed by violin, guitar and cello, stages seven stories of imperfection, fragility, pain, loneliness and difference, told with a tragicomic flavor.

Seven characters

The theater presents the show with three lines that sum up its spirit: grotesque, fragile, terribly human, seven oversized characters, to laugh at what scares us. The characters are broken figures, isolated in the circle of their own pain, who tell their stories alone. They are, writes the Ghione, grotesque and timeless masks who intensely live the wonder of human feelings.

The themes

Behind the grotesque are themes rooted in today's society: toxic love, loneliness, prejudice, violence. Brotti is therefore not a simple show of sketch characters. The laughter serves to bring the spectator closer to situations that, told directly, would make people look away.

The live music

Playing alongside the actress are Martino Panna on guitar, Cecilia Drago on violin and Lucia Libassi on cello. It is a chamber ensemble, not a band: the strings give the characters a soundtrack that can be melancholy or ironic, and make Brotti something between a recital, cabaret and spoken theater. Audio and lights are by Umberto Fiore.

The title: brutti and rotti

Brotti is an invented word that fuses brutti (ugly) and rotti (broken): this is how the Teatro Ghione's presentation explains the show's title and the meaning of its characters.

A new word

The blend is simple and immediate. The brotti are not only ugly, that is, outside the canons, and not only broken, that is, wounded: they are both things together. The word works because it sounds familiar, almost dialectal, and because it already contains the tone of the show, halfway between a joke and a confession.

The subtitle

The subtitle, E non ridere che sei come loro ("and don't laugh, you're just like them"), suggests according to the theater the deepest meaning of the undertaking: we are all a little broken, dented by life's adversities, by the unexpected, by crazy or mistaken feelings. The spectator who laughs at the brotti is warned from the title: he is laughing at himself too.

The beauty of what does not fit

The conclusion of the presentation is almost a statement of poetics: precisely in being oversized, imperfect and irreducible, the brotti remind us of something that normality tends to forget, namely that the most authentic beauty often comes from what finds no place in the world's rules. In our opinion it is the sentence that best explains why a comic show can leave the audience moved.

Manuela Zero, the star of Brotti

Manuela Zero is an actress and singer who with Brotti brings to the theater a gallery of characters of which she is the only performer, accompanied by live music.

Actress and singer

Teatro Ghione presents her as an actress and singer, and the show uses both sides: acting to give body to the seven characters, voice for the sung parts that the string trio accompanies. It is a form of show that demands versatility, because the performer must move in a few moments from one figure to another, changing voice, posture, register.

A presence in Rome's theaters

In the 2026/2027 season Manuela Zero also appears on another Rome schedule: from November 5 to 8, 2026 she acts at the Teatro Belli in Trastevere in Vite da strada by Tommaso Agnese, alongside Moisé Curia. Brotti, by contrast, is a show built entirely around her.

The team

Brotti is directed by Davide Santi, the production is by Maximo Event, with Daniele Lizambri as producer. It is a nimble team, designed to take the show to halls of different sizes, where the relationship with the audience stays direct.

Who Brotti is for

Brotti is a comic and musical show for an adult audience, which uses the grotesque to talk about serious themes such as loneliness, prejudice, toxic love and violence.

For those who love character comedy

Those who love comedy built on characters, masks and transformations, more than on the dry punchline of stand-up, will find in Brotti a familiar language. It is the tradition of theater in which a single performer multiplies the figures, here with the addition of live music.

For those looking for something more

Those who go to the theater mainly to reflect will find in the subtitle and the themes the reason to be there. The Ghione's presentation insists on the human dimension of the characters: beneath the grotesque makeup is the intent to talk about real people.

For those coming from outside Rome

For those in Rome for a few days in late January, Brotti is a chance to see an independent Italian show, far from internationally famous titles, in a neighborhood hall a few steps from the Vatican. The language is Italian, with the inflections and wordplay of the characters: you need a good command of the language to catch all the nuances, but the music and the work on the body help even those who speak it less well. The evening ends early enough to allow a night walk between Borgo and Castel Sant'Angelo.

Teatro Ghione, the hall on Via delle Fornaci

The Teatro Ghione is a hall of about 500 seats at Via delle Fornaci 37, between the Vatican and the slopes of the Janiculum, founded and run for 25 years by the actress Ileana Ghione.

Drama, music and comedy

For decades the schedule alternated classic drama, with Wilde, Pirandello, Shakespeare and Goldoni, with concerts. In recent years tribute concerts, singer-songwriter music and comedy have become a fixture: this season have passed through, among others, FlaMENcos, I Fantastici, Giovanni Cacioppo and Francesca Reggiani.

An intimate hall

With about 500 seats between orchestra and gallery, the Ghione keeps an up-close scale. For a show of characters it is an advantage: the actress sees the audience, the audience catches the expressions, and the comic pauses reach the last row. The gallery, at 20 euros, offers an overview useful for appreciating the work on the body.

Ileana Ghione, the actress who gave the theater its name

Ileana Ghione, born in Cortemilia, in Piedmont, on January 15, 1931 and died in Rome on December 3, 2005, was a theater and television actress who on December 9, 1980 bought and refitted the old theater on Via delle Fornaci, giving it her name.

Her training

She trained in the 1950s at the Accademia d'arte drammatica, with Sergio Tofano among her teachers, and acted in Giacosa's Come le foglie alongside Tino Carraro.

The TV dramas

She was a face of television dramas: Jane Eyre, An American Tragedy, David Copperfield, Buddenbrooks, Madame Curie, Una donna. In 2001 President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi named her Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

The last performance

In December 2005, while performing Euripides' Hecuba on the stage of her own theater, she was taken ill and died shortly afterward, the lying in state was set up in the theater itself.

How to get to Teatro Ghione for Brotti

The most convenient way to reach Teatro Ghione by public transport is the regional train to Roma San Pietro station, served by lines FL3 and FL5, a few minutes on foot from Via delle Fornaci 37.

By train

San Pietro station also has a bus stop and a taxi stand. From the station you walk up Via delle Fornaci to the theater.

By bus and metro

The buses in the area converge on San Pietro station and Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri, lines and evening times should be checked on the route planner of the Rome transit company. The nearest Metro A stops are in Prati, about 20 minutes on foot through Borgo and St. Peter's Square.

By car

The Ghione website lists three parking solutions nearby: a free outdoor lot, the San Pietro parking garage and a private garage.

On foot

From St. Peter's Square the theater is reached in a few minutes, by way of Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri: it is the natural choice for those staying in Borgo or around the Vatican.

A curiosity about Brotti by Manuela Zero at Teatro Ghione, January 28, 2027

The most interesting curiosity concerns the relationship between the show and the theater that hosts it. Teatro Ghione bears the name of an actress who built her career on strong female characters, from the television dramas based on the great nineteenth-century novels, such as Jane Eyre, David Copperfield and Buddenbrooks, to Euripides' Hecuba, the last role she played, on this very stage, in December 2005. Hecuba is a queen destroyed by grief, a tragic figure par excellence. 20 years later, on the same stage, another actress presents figures broken by pain, but chooses the opposite road: the grotesque, laughter, the mask. It is the same human material, treated in another register. The second curiosity concerns the word in the title. Brotti is a neologism born from the blend of brutti and rotti, a very old linguistic device that comic theater has always loved. Whoever leaves the show hardly forgets the title, and this, for an independent work that lives on word of mouth, is half the success. The third curiosity is musical: for a comic show the choice of a trio with violin and cello is not obvious. The strings carry with them a memory of classical music that clashes with the grotesque of the characters, and from this clash often comes the most successful comic effect.

One thing nobody tells you about Brotti by Manuela Zero at Teatro Ghione, January 28, 2027

What the presentations do not say is that a show titled E non ridere che sei come loro calls the audience into question, and does so openly. The subtitle is a warning: whoever laughs at the characters is laughing at themselves too. It is best, then, to arrive ready for a kind of comedy that does not keep the spectator safe, and that alternates laughter with moments when the laughter stops. The theater's presentation speaks of toxic love and violence: these are themes that, inside a grotesque character, can hit harder than you expect. The second thing concerns the choice of seat. The Ghione has two price bands, and the 5-euro difference between orchestra and gallery is not only financial. In the orchestra you are close to the actress's face and catch the micro-expressions, essential in a show of transformations, in the gallery you see the whole better, with the musicians and the lighting design by Umberto Fiore. For a first encounter with Brotti, in our opinion, the central orchestra is the best choice. The third thing is about the calendar: the performance falls on a Thursday, and on Thursday evening the St. Peter's area is much quieter than on the weekend, with parking and tables easier to find.

The advice I give you for visiting Brotti by Manuela Zero at Teatro Ghione, January 28, 2027

The advice is to build the evening around St. Peter's, which is a few minutes on foot from the Ghione. In late January the sun sets early, and an afternoon in St. Peter's Square and Borgo, perhaps with a walk to Castel Sant'Angelo, leads naturally to dinner time. With the start at 20:30, it is best to eat early, around 19:00, in one of the trattorias or pizzerias of the neighborhood, between Via delle Fornaci and Via Gregorio VII, away from the places on Via della Conciliazione, designed mostly for tourists. The second piece of advice concerns arrival: the regional train to San Pietro station is the most convenient choice for those coming from areas served by lines FL3 and FL5, while those arriving by car can use one of the parking options listed by the theater. The third concerns the ride home: on the way out, the lit dome of St. Peter's can be seen going down toward Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri, and it is the best way to close an evening in which you laughed at serious things. If you come with a large group of friends, book together, to sit side by side in a hall where the best seats sell out early.

What to see around Teatro Ghione

Teatro Ghione is between St. Peter's, Borgo and the Janiculum: before an evening show, the afternoon offers many possibilities a few minutes on foot away.

St. Peter's and Borgo

St. Peter's Square is a few minutes away, between the square and the Tiber stretches the Borgo district, with the Passetto reaching Castel Sant'Angelo.

The Janiculum and Villa Pamphilj

Behind the theater rises the Janiculum, with its terrace over the city, farther south opens Villa Doria Pamphilj, suited to a walk in daylight.

Porta Cavalleggeri and the station

Going down toward Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri you skirt the Leonine Walls, with the Borgia coats of arms on the gate. San Pietro station, opened in 1894, is a place many have already seen in the movies without knowing it.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It is well known that Teatro Ghione is a stone's throw from the Vatican, it is less often remembered that the area around the theater was the scene of a battle. On April 30, 1849, at Porta Cavalleggeri, the first attack of the French troops against the Roman Republic was fought and repelled by the defenders. Among them was a young actor, Tommaso Salvini: an actor on the barricades, a few steps from the spot where, a century later, a theater would be born. There is also a second little-cited fact, concerning San Pietro station. Opened in 1894 on the line to Viterbo, it is also the starting point of the Vatican railway, and cinema has often used it as a set, with Totò, Alberto Sordi and Virna Lisi. Whoever arrives by train to see Brotti therefore gets off at a station that has already served as a backdrop to Italian comedy. For a show that claims the right to laugh at one's own fragilities, it is a coincidence worth recalling: in our opinion the great commedia all'italiana, from Totò to Sordi, has always staged ugly and broken characters, and made them unforgettable.

The right photo to take at Brotti by Manuela Zero at Teatro Ghione, January 28, 2027

The right photo, for a show of transformations, is not taken during the performance. Every change of character is built on timing and surprise, and a raised phone distracts the actress, the musicians and the audience around you. The photo is taken before, when the hall fills up, or after, on the way out. Before the show, a shot of the stage with the instruments already in position, the cello, the violin, the guitar, tells well the hybrid nature of the evening, halfway between concert and theater. It is an image that says a lot without revealing anything about the characters. On the way out, the best photo is that of the lit dome of St. Peter's, which can be seen from the streets around the theater going down toward Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri. On a cold January night, with few people around, the dome in the night is a simple and powerful image. The third photo is for those who collect theater memories: the Brotti poster at the entrance of the Ghione, with the name of the hall and the date. A one-night show deserves proof that you were there.

Some important events that took place here in history

The area of Teatro Ghione has an ancient history. Here ran the Leonine Walls, and Porta Cavalleggeri preserves the coats of arms of the Borgia of Pope Alexander VI. On April 30, 1849 the first attack of the French troops against the Roman Republic was fought at Porta Cavalleggeri and repelled by the defenders, among whom was the young actor Tommaso Salvini. In 1894 San Pietro station was opened, on the line to Viterbo, the Vatican railway also departs from here, and cinema has used the station as a set. On December 9, 1980 Ileana Ghione bought the old theater on Via delle Fornaci and reopened it under her name, on November 25, 1986 Shaw's Candida was staged there, directed by Silverio Blasi. In December 2005 Ileana Ghione, while performing Euripides' Hecuba on her stage, was taken ill and died shortly afterward, the lying in state was set up in the theater. Since then the Ghione has continued to live on drama, music and comedy, and in the 2026/2027 season it alternates tribute concerts, comedians, dance shows and independent productions such as Brotti, scheduled for January 28, 2027.

Who has played at Brotti by Manuela Zero at Teatro Ghione, January 28, 2027

Across the Ghione's stage have passed the classics of drama, with Wilde, Pirandello, Shakespeare and Goldoni, and the face of Ileana Ghione, a pupil of Sergio Tofano and star of Come le foglie with Tino Carraro, later a face of Italian television dramas. In the neighborhood around have passed popes and soldiers, the Borgia and Tommaso Salvini, and in front of San Pietro station have passed Totò, Alberto Sordi and Virna Lisi, for the movies. In recent years the hall has become one of Rome's homes for tribute concerts, singer-songwriter music and comedy: FlaMENcos, I Fantastici, Giovanni Cacioppo, Francesca Reggiani, the foreign comedians who brought stand-up in other languages. On January 28, 2027 pass Manuela Zero and her team: the director Davide Santi, the musicians Martino Panna, Cecilia Drago and Lucia Libassi, the technician Umberto Fiore, the producer Daniele Lizambri. And pass seven characters who do not exist, but whom the audience recognizes: the brotti, ugly and broken, fragile and oversized, who for one evening take the place of the queens and heroes of the classical repertoire.

How to organize the evening of Brotti

With the start at 20:30 on a Thursday, the evening of Brotti is best organized by arriving in the St. Peter's area in the late afternoon, eating early in the neighborhood and leaving the car, if needed, in one of the parking options listed by Teatro Ghione.

The afternoon

For those with a free afternoon, the area offers more than you can see in a few hours. A walk between St. Peter's Square and Borgo, or the climb to the Janiculum before dark, are the simplest ways to reach the theater without hurry. In late January the light goes early: it is best to plan outdoor visits before 17:00.

Dinner

The neighborhood around the Ghione is residential, with pizzerias and trattorias frequented by Romans. Dinner around 19:00 leaves time to get to the hall 15 minutes early, which at a one-night performance also serves to find your seat unhurriedly and settle your coat.

The ride home

On the way out, those who came by train return to San Pietro station, checking the evening regional timetables beforehand, those who prefer to walk go down toward Largo di Porta Cavalleggeri and St. Peter's Square, where the lit dome accompanies the way home. Taxis are found at the station stand: those who must travel far on a winter night do well to book one in advance for the exit.

Choosing your seat: orchestra or gallery

Teatro Ghione sells Brotti in two bands, orchestra at 25 euros and gallery at 20 euros, and the choice changes the way you see the show.

The orchestra

In a show of transformations, in which a single actress gives life to seven characters, closeness matters. From the orchestra you catch the expressions, the changes of voice, the small gestures with which one character gives way to the next. The central rows offer the best balance between closeness and overall view.

The gallery

From the gallery you see the whole scene better, with the three musicians and the lighting design. It is a good choice for those who have already seen Brotti or who prefer to watch from a little distance a work that mixes theater and concert, and it costs 5 euros less.

With friends

If you go to the theater in a group, buy the tickets all together, to sit side by side: in an intimate hall, with a single performance, the best adjacent seats are the first to disappear.

Where to eat before or after Brotti

Around Teatro Ghione you find pizzerias, trattorias and bars in the streets between Via delle Fornaci, Via Gregorio VII and the slopes of the Janiculum, frequented mostly by people who live in the neighborhood.

Before

With the start at 20:30, an early dinner, around 19:00, or an aperitivo in the neighborhood are the most comfortable options. On Thursday evening the area is quiet, but booking remains prudent.

After

After the show there is still time for a pizza in the residential streets around Via Gregorio VII, or in Borgo and Prati. The places facing Via della Conciliazione are designed mostly for tourists.

Accessibility, age and practical information

Teatro Ghione devotes a section of its website to accessibility and accessible shows, for specific needs it is best to phone the theater before the evening, at 06 6372294.

Age

The organization indicates no age limits. The declared themes, from toxic love to violence, and the grotesque register make Brotti a show meant for adults and older teenagers.

January in Rome

Late January evenings in Rome are cold and sometimes rainy. The walk from San Pietro station to the theater is short, but a heavy jacket and an umbrella are useful for the exit. It is a low season: if you come from out of town you will easily find lodging in Borgo, Prati or the Aurelio area.

Frequently asked questions about Brotti

When is Brotti by Manuela Zero staged in Rome?

Brotti by Manuela Zero is staged at Teatro Ghione in Rome on Thursday, January 28, 2027 at 20:30. It is the only Rome performance given in the theater's official listing.

How much do tickets for Brotti at Teatro Ghione cost?

For Brotti, Teatro Ghione publishes two prices: 25 euros for the orchestra and 20 euros for the gallery. Tickets are bought on the theater's official website, which links to the authorized presale circuit, or by contacting the theater.

What is Brotti about?

Brotti tells seven stories of imperfection, fragility, pain, loneliness and difference through seven grotesque characters played by Manuela Zero. The themes are toxic love, loneliness, prejudice and violence, treated with a tragicomic flavor.

What does Brotti mean?

Brotti is an invented word that joins brutti and rotti (ugly and broken). According to the Teatro Ghione's presentation it indicates broken, oversized figures, and the subtitle, E non ridere che sei come loro, reminds us that deep down everyone is a little broken.

Who is on stage with Manuela Zero?

In Brotti, Manuela Zero is accompanied by a live trio: Martino Panna on guitar, Cecilia Drago on violin and Lucia Libassi on cello. Direction is by Davide Santi, production by Maximo Event.

How do I get to Teatro Ghione?

Teatro Ghione is at Via delle Fornaci 37, near St. Peter's. The most convenient option is the FL3 or FL5 regional train to Roma San Pietro station, from St. Peter's Square you arrive on foot in a few minutes.

Is Brotti suitable for teenagers?

Brotti has no declared age limits, but it addresses themes such as violence and toxic love in a grotesque register: it suits adults and older teenagers, less so small children.

The final advice on Brotti

Brotti is one of those evenings the Rome schedule offers outside the big circuits: a single performance, an actress with three musicians, seven characters, a title that sticks in your head. In our opinion it is a good choice for those looking for a different kind of comedy from stand-up and big shows, a comedy of masks, transformations and live music, that is not ashamed to move you. The low price and the Ghione's intimate hall help. The advice is to book early, choose the orchestra to see the actress's work up close, eat in the neighborhood before 20:30 and remember the subtitle: E non ridere che sei come loro. On a winter evening, laughing at your own cracks together with about 500 strangers is an experience rarer than it should be.

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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