Composizioni 2026 by Teatri di Vetro at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, September 22 to December 6, 2026

Composizioni 2026 is the participatory section of Teatri di Vetro, the festival that turns 20 this year, and it takes place with free admission between Teatro del Lido di Ostia, at Via delle Sirene 22, the Pineta di Castel Fusano and the Micro 104 space at Via delle Palme 104, in Centocelle, with the grand finale on Sunday, December 6, 2026 at Teatro del Lido: at 14:00 the dance performance MIT, at 15:30 the show Le lingue dei muri, at 18:00 Cantiere Forugh, at 19:30 Macchina Reale. Before the finale, after the Cantiere Forugh seminar on Friday, October 30 at Micro 104, the workshops and rehearsals at Teatro del Lido are scheduled from November 30 to December 5. From the center of Rome you reach Teatro del Lido on Metro B to Piramide, the train to Ostia to Lido Centro and bus 01 to Via delle Sirene stop, the sixth one. For the Pineta you get off at Castelfusano station. For information, the association Il Triangolo Scaleno answers at 339 2824889 and at promozione@triangoloscalenoteatro.it. The program, warns the Roma Capitale culture portal, may change.

Language: a performance based on dance, music or visual acts; no English version is announced, any spoken parts are in Italian.

Composizioni 2026 at a glance: dates, venues, admission

Composizioni 2026 runs from September 18 to December 6, 2026, according to the Roma Capitale culture portal, with five projects: Le lingue dei muri, Playground, Cantiere Forugh, MIT and Macchina Reale. All the events are free.

What has already taken place

On September 18, from 15:00 to 20:00, Micro 104 hosted the research seminar for Le lingue dei muri, led by Sofia Abbati and Andrea Milano of Spartenza Teatro. From September 22 to 27 the company Operabianco worked in the Pineta di Castel Fusano with Playground#Ostia, with a public showing on Sunday, September 27 at 17:00. On Friday, October 30 at 17:00 Micro 104 hosted the Cantiere Forugh seminar.

What is still on the calendar

From November 30 to December 5, workshops and rehearsals for Le lingue dei muri and Macchina Reale at Teatro del Lido. From December 1 to 5, the MIT dance workshop. On Sunday, December 6, the four final showings, from 14:00 to 19:30.

Admission

Admission is free. For the October 30 seminar, booking was required, by email to promozione@triangoloscalenoteatro.it. During the festival Teatri di Vetro launches open calls on its website and social channels to involve local residents in the projects.

Accessibility

The Roma Capitale culture portal lists the festival as an accessible event. If you have specific needs, it's best to tell the association when you book.

What Composizioni is: participation as a field of research

Composizioni is the section of Teatri di Vetro dedicated to participatory projects, born more than 10 years ago right at Teatro del Lido di Ostia and over time turned into a research environment where participation is not an accessory but the very material of the artistic work.

Not a series of shows

The Teatri di Vetro website is explicit: Composizioni is not a series of events, but a set of processes that run through time and involve residents, artists, students, children, older people and intercultural communities, making participation an artistic practice and relationships a material for creation. It's a distinction that matters for those who go to see it: the showings on December 6 are the end point of weeks of work, not touring shows.

Author and spectator

In the presentation published by the Roma Capitale portal, residents, students, children, teenagers, older people, performers, migrants, artists and researchers enter the creative processes and redefine the boundaries between author and spectator, between artistic practice and daily life. Whoever sits in the audience on December 6 might recognize their next-door neighbor on stage.

Artistic ecosystems

The five projects, according to the same presentation, can be seen as true artistic ecosystems: each one builds an autonomous research environment, activates different communities, and has its own timing and its own relationship with the area. The underlying question is posed by the festival website: can a community become the generative place of art?

The five projects of Composizioni 2026

The Teatri di Vetro website sums up the edition like this: a poetic atlas of the walls of Ostia, a temporary company of children and older people, a work-in-progress dedicated to Forugh Farrokhzad and to experiences of migration and belonging, a collective dance that questions the concept of tradition, a research project on the seafront landscape as a device for seeing and listening.

The Le lingue dei muri project

Le lingue dei muri, by Sofia Abbati and Andrea Milano for Spartenza Teatro, is described as a poetic atlas of our cities: accounting for time, shifting the gaze toward what goes unobserved and incorporating it. After the September seminar and an open call titled I muri raccontano, launched on September 21, the work returns to Teatro del Lido on November 30 for rehearsals and goes on stage on December 6 at 15:30.

Playground

Playground is a choreographic device by the company Operabianco that sets off processes of community involvement from a perspective of permeability with the ecosystem. In Ostia it took the name Playground#Ostia and worked in the Pineta di Castel Fusano from September 22 to 27.

Cantiere Forugh

Cantiere Forugh is the project of the company Bartolini/Baronio, Tamara Bartolini and Michele Baronio, on the Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad. It's the third stage of the company's research on Farrokhzad, begun in 2024: a community performance work-in-progress attentive to experiences of migration, exile and displacement. The October 30 seminar at Micro 104 and the show on December 6 at 18:00 are the two public events of Composizioni.

MIT

MIT is listed in the calendar as a dance workshop, from December 1 to 5, and as a dance performance on Sunday, December 6 at 14:00. It opens the final day.

Macchina Reale

Macchina Reale works at Teatro del Lido from November 30 to December 5 with workshops and rehearsals, and closes the day on December 6 at 19:30. It's the last show of Composizioni 2026.

Sunday, December 6: the final day at Teatro del Lido

On Sunday, December 6, 2026, Teatro del Lido di Ostia hosts the four showings of Composizioni, all free: MIT at 14:00, Le lingue dei muri at 15:30, Cantiere Forugh at 18:00, Macchina Reale at 19:30.

A whole day

Between the first performance and the last show there are five and a half hours. If you want to see everything, plan a Sunday in Ostia, with a break between one event and the next. In our view it's the best option: the four showings make more sense together, as chapters of the same work.

Choosing

If you only have the afternoon, you can focus on Le lingue dei muri and Cantiere Forugh, the two projects with the longest public path, started in September and October. If you arrive in the evening you get Cantiere Forugh and Macchina Reale, and head back to Rome after dinner.

The hall

The hall at Teatro del Lido is rectangular, with stalls and rising tiered seating, for 202 seats. For shows created with the participation of many local people, between relatives, friends and the curious, it can fill up quickly: arrive early.

Teatri di Vetro: 20 years of practice and thought

Teatri di Vetro is the festival of Triangolo Scaleno Teatro directed by Roberta Nicolai, and in 2026 it turns 20: its website describes it no longer as a festival but as an organism in motion, a constellation of processes.

Five operating levels

Composizioni, Trasmissioni, ZOLLA, Oscillazioni and DIARIO are the operating levels of a single organism that questions contemporary artistic practices: creation, research, transmission, relationships with places and communities, forms of seeing. The festival calls them perimeters, tools for looking from different perspectives.

Trasmissioni turns 10

Trasmissioni, launched in 2017, observes the ways in which bodily and choreographic practices pass from one body to another and, in passing, change. In 2026 its public events were on October 3 and 4, with a closing round table on Sunday the 4th at 11:00. ZOLLA and a gathering with the spirit of Oscillazioni will follow.

A text that changes

The festival website warns that the presentation of the edition itself will change over time, following the projects and gathering traces: not an editorial, but an orientation device. It's an idea consistent with Composizioni: the story is also under construction.

Roberta Nicolai

Roberta Nicolai, playwright and director, heads Triangolo Scaleno Teatro in Rome, is its artistic director, structures and writes the projects and handles the management side. At the October 30 seminar she sat at the table with Bartolini/Baronio and Sara Ghorbanian Matlub.

A curious fact about Composizioni 2026 by Teatri di Vetro at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, September 22 to December 6, 2026

The nicest curious fact is that Composizioni comes home. The section was born more than 10 years ago right at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, as a space dedicated to participatory projects, and in the year of Teatri di Vetro's 20th anniversary it closes its edition in the hall where it began. A hall that, in turn, exists thanks to participation: in 1997 artists and young local people occupied the abandoned spaces of the old seaside colony, and in 2010 a residents' committee occupied them again. A festival of participation in a theater born from participation: such consistency is rare.

The second curious fact concerns the venues. The Roma Capitale portal places the festival in Municipio V, because Micro 104 is in Centocelle, while Teatro del Lido is in Municipio X. Composizioni thus crosses the city from the east to the sea, two outskirts that rarely talk to each other.

The third concerns Forugh Farrokhzad. The Iranian poet, who died in 1967, arrives in Ostia through research that the company Bartolini/Baronio has been carrying out since 2024, and whose title is the same as that of the first Italian critical edition of all her poems, edited by Domenico Ingenito for Bompiani in 2023. A 20th-century Persian voice resounds in a hall on the Roman coast: it's the kind of encounter that only a participatory project makes possible.

Teatro del Lido di Ostia: history of the venue

Teatro del Lido di Ostia is at Via delle Sirene 22, inside the former Vittorio Emanuele III seaside colony, and it opened in February 2003 as Rome's first outer-ring theater, public and participatory.

From seaside colony to theater

The complex was built in the early 20th century as a seaside colony, for children's stays by the sea. After several uses, the spaces stood unused for more than 25 years. Today, besides the theater, they house the Elsa Morante municipal library, the Almayer bookstore and social services, including a shelter and a soup kitchen.

Two occupations

In 1997 a group of artists and young local people entered the abandoned spaces and started theater and workshop activities. Between 1999 and 2003 the City renovated the building, and in February 2003 the theater opened. It closed in June 2008. On February 26, 2010, a committee of artists, students, residents and former workers occupied it again, and after three years of campaigning an agreement restored its function.

Teatri in Comune

Today Teatro del Lido is part of Teatri in Comune, Roma Capitale's system of public theaters in the municipi. It works with local schools, associations and senior centers: the natural audience for a project like Composizioni.

Something nobody tells you about Composizioni 2026 by Teatri di Vetro at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, September 22 to December 6, 2026

What nobody tells you is that at Composizioni you can take part, not just watch. During the festival Teatri di Vetro launches public calls on its website and social media: in July and September there were calls for Playground#Ostia, for Le lingue dei muri and for the project I muri raccontano. If you live in Ostia, or have time in the last weeks of November, you can ask if there are still places in the workshops leading up to December 6. It's a rare chance to be on the other side of the stage, for free, with professional artists.

The second thing is that the calendar is split among distant venues. Micro 104 is in Centocelle, at the far eastern edge of the city, while Teatro del Lido and the Pineta are by the sea. If you plan to follow everything, expect long trips. The advice is to focus on Sunday, December 6.

The third concerns the audience. The showings of a participatory project draw the families and friends of those on stage, and the 202-seat hall fills up fast, especially for the shows with children and older people. Being free doesn't mean being empty: arrive half an hour early, and if the program calls for it, book by writing to the association.

How to get to Teatro del Lido, the Pineta and Micro 104

You reach Teatro del Lido from Termini on Metro B to Piramide, the train to Ostia to Lido Centro station and bus 01 to Via delle Sirene stop, the sixth one. From there you follow the street, turn right at the intersection and after about 300 meters you reach the entrance.

The train to Ostia

The train to Ostia leaves next to the Piramide stop of Metro B. For the theater, get off at Lido Centro. If you'd rather walk, the theater is about a kilometer to the west, near Lungomare Paolo Toscanelli. On Sundays trains run less often than on weekdays: check the timetable, especially for the trip back after the 19:30 show.

Pineta di Castel Fusano

For the Pineta di Castel Fusano, where Playground worked in September, you take the same train and get off at Castelfusano station, the Roma Capitale portal says.

Micro 104 in Centocelle

For Micro 104, at Via delle Palme 104, the portal suggests taking tram 5 from Termini toward Gerani to the Metro C Gardenie stop, then about 300 meters on foot.

The other venues

Roma Capitale's tourism portal also lists Via del Martin Pescatore 66 among the festival venues. No event in the published calendar is linked to it for now: if any appear, they will be announced on Teatri di Vetro's channels.

By car

From Rome you reach Ostia by Via del Mare, Via Ostiense or Via Cristoforo Colombo. In December, on a Sunday, parking near the seafront is easier than in summer.

My advice for visiting Composizioni 2026 by Teatri di Vetro at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, September 22 to December 6, 2026

The advice is to make Sunday, December 6 a full day in Ostia. Arrive in the morning, walk along the winter seafront, have a relaxed lunch and show up at Teatro del Lido by 13:45. From 14:00 to 19:30 MIT, Le lingue dei muri, Cantiere Forugh and Macchina Reale follow one another: four works born in different ways, with different communities, which seen in sequence show what participatory theater really is.

During the breaks, go outside. The theater is a few steps from the sea, and between one show and the next there's time for a walk or a coffee. Going back into the hall after an hour in the open air helps you see each work with fresh eyes.

If you want to arrive prepared, one thing: read some poems by Farrokhzad in the Bompiani edition edited by Domenico Ingenito.

Finally, for the trip back, check the last Sunday evening train to Piramide. Macchina Reale starts at 19:30: keep that in mind before booking dinner.

Cantiere Forugh: Bartolini/Baronio and Forugh Farrokhzad

Cantiere Forugh is the third stage of the research that the company Bartolini/Baronio has devoted since 2024 to the life and work of the Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad, and at Composizioni 2026 it has two public events: the October 30 seminar and the December 6 show.

The October residency

Before the seminar the project had a production residency at Spazio Rossellini, with ATCL, from October 7 to 11, described in Cantiere Forugh allo Spazio Rossellini. It's produced by Bartolini/Baronio, coproduced by Teatri di Vetro.

The earlier stages

The first study, Una rinascita, appunti su Forugh Farrokhzad, was presented at Teatri di Vetro in 2024 at Teatro India. The second is titled Una finestra. With the cantiere, the research leaves the dimension of the study and becomes a choral device.

Displacement

The key word of the work is displacement: the research weaves Farrokhzad's biography together with the experiences of people who live migration, exile and marginality today. On the stage of Teatro del Lido the community itself becomes stage material.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It's well known that Ostia is Rome's seaside. It's less often mentioned that it's also one of its most stubborn cultural laboratories. Teatro del Lido was occupied twice, in 1997 and in 2010, by artists and residents who were asking for a public theater for the neighborhood. It was the city's first outer-ring theater, a model later recognized by Lazio regional law number 16 of September 15, 2005. Composizioni, born here more than 10 years ago, is a child of that history.

A second well-known fact is that Roman theaters live on their seasons, on titles coming in from elsewhere. Less often mentioned is that there's another tradition, that of projects built with residents, months long, with results that can't be repeated elsewhere. The Teatri di Vetro website calls it participation as a field of research, and the Roma Capitale portal talks about artistic ecosystems. They're two ways of saying the same thing: the value of these works is in the process, and the final show is its visible trace.

The third fact concerns public support. Composizioni is made with the contribution of the Ministry of Culture, Directorate General for Live Performance, and it won Roma Capitale's public call Lo spettacolo dal vivo fuori dal Centro 2026, in collaboration with SIAE. The title of the call says it all: taking culture outside the center, to Ostia and to Centocelle.

Ostia and the area around Teatro del Lido

Teatro del Lido is in Ostia, in Municipio X, near Lungomare Paolo Toscanelli: in December Rome's seaside district shows its calmest face, with the free beach and the slow pace of a seaside town in winter.

The seafront

The seafront is the natural walk before the day of shows. In December most of the beach clubs are closed, and the early afternoon light on the sea is one of the most beautiful things on the Roman coast.

Ostia Antica

A few kilometers away is the archaeological park of Ostia Antica, the port of ancient Rome, with the nearby medieval village. A morning at the excavations and an afternoon at the theater make a full Sunday.

The same theater, other audiences

In the same weeks Teatro del Lido hosts other Teatri in Comune shows, like Still Alive and Cumma Marie, storie di donne, and the family series Teatri d'Arrembaggio.

The right photo to take at Composizioni 2026 by Teatri di Vetro at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, September 22 to December 6, 2026

The right photo isn't taken during the shows: in a participatory showing, there are often children, older people and people on stage who didn't choose to be photographed by strangers. Follow the house rules and keep your phone in your pocket.

The photo that tells the story of Composizioni is taken outside. Le lingue dei muri is a poetic atlas of the walls of Ostia: before going into the theater, look in the streets around Via delle Sirene for a wall that speaks to you, with writing, a crack, a torn poster. It's the same operation the project asks of its participants: shifting the gaze toward what goes unobserved.

The second photo is the December sea at sunset, between Le lingue dei muri and Cantiere Forugh: the sun sets early, and from Lungomare Paolo Toscanelli the low light on the empty sea is the right image for a day devoted to community, landscape and memory. If you went to the Pineta di Castel Fusano for Playground in September, you can add an image of the pines to your archive: three places, three photos, a single project.

Where to eat in Ostia during the Composizioni day

Ostia is the right place for a seafood lunch before the December 6 day, with trattorias and seafood restaurants concentrated on the seafront and in the streets of central Lido.

Lunch

The cooking of the Roman coast is simple: fried small fish, spaghetti alle vongole, grilled fish. On the seafront several places are open all year. For Sunday lunch, even in winter, booking is wise.

Between one show and the next

In the breaks between MIT, Le lingue dei muri and Cantiere Forugh, a coffee and a pastry are enough. In central Lido, toward Lido Centro station, there are cafés, bakeries and pizza-by-the-slice shops.

After Macchina Reale

If you stay until the last show, you can have dinner in Ostia and head back to Rome later, checking the time of the last Sunday train.

Some important events that happened here in history

The history of Teatro del Lido begins with the Vittorio Emanuele III seaside colony, built in Ostia in the early 20th century for children's stays by the sea, and continues with two occupations, a public renovation and a closure. After decades of different uses, the colony's spaces stood unused for more than 25 years. In 1997 artists and young local people occupied the premises on Via delle Sirene and started theater and workshop activities there.

Between 1999 and 2003 the City of Rome renovated the building, and in February 2003 the theater opened as the city's first outer-ring theater. For five years its management involved the Department of Cultural Policies and the Culture Department, Municipio Roma XIII, then responsible for Ostia, and the association of associations Le Sirene. On September 15, 2005, Lazio regional law number 16 gave shape to the network of outer-ring theaters. In June 2008 the theater closed.

On February 26, 2010, a committee of artists, students, residents and former workers occupied the hall again. After three years of campaigning, an agreement restored its function and started the work to bring it up to code. In this hall, more than 10 years ago, Composizioni was born as a space dedicated to the participatory projects of Teatri di Vetro, and here, on December 6, 2026, the festival's 20th-anniversary edition closes.

Who has passed through Composizioni 2026 by Teatri di Vetro at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, September 22 to December 6, 2026

The history of Teatro del Lido is made more of communities than of famous names: the children of the seaside colonies, the artists and young people who occupied the spaces in 1997, the associations of the Le Sirene consortium, the committee that occupied them again in 2010. After the 2003 opening, the companies of the new theater scene, local schools and senior centers came through here, and for more than 10 years the participants of Composizioni: residents, students, children, teenagers, older people, performers, migrants, researchers.

In the 2026 edition, Composizioni brings Sofia Abbati and Andrea Milano of Spartenza Teatro with Le lingue dei muri, the company Operabianco with Playground#Ostia, in the Pineta di Castel Fusano, Tamara Bartolini and Michele Baronio with Cantiere Forugh, together with Sara Ghorbanian Matlub, and the groups of MIT and Macchina Reale. Leading it all is Roberta Nicolai, playwright and director, artistic director of Triangolo Scaleno Teatro and of Teatri di Vetro.

And there's a presence that doesn't go on stage but runs through the whole edition: Forugh Farrokhzad, the Iranian poet who died in 1967, whose work Bartolini/Baronio brings to Ostia as an opportunity to listen to people who live migration and exile today. In a hall born from residents' commitment, the voice of a poet who paid dearly for her freedom finds a fitting audience.

Accessibility and practical information

Composizioni 2026 is listed by the Roma Capitale culture portal as an accessible event. For specific needs, the contact is the association Il Triangolo Scaleno, at 339 2824889 or promozione@triangoloscalenoteatro.it.

Seats and tiered seating

The hall at Teatro del Lido has stalls and rising tiered seating: if you have trouble walking, it's a good idea to ask for a seat in the stalls and to arrive early.

With children

The Roma Capitale portal lists Composizioni in the section for young children, and among the projects there's a temporary company of children and older people. It's a day suited to families, as long as you pick one or two shows and not all four.

Ostia in early December: the time of the finale

The Composizioni finale falls on Sunday, December 6, at the start of the Roman winter: short days, low sun over the sea, an almost deserted seafront. If you come from Rome, it's a chance to see Ostia out of season, far from the summer crowds. Bring a heavy jacket: in December the wind off the sea makes itself felt, especially when you come out of the last show.

Frequently asked questions about Composizioni 2026

How much does admission to Composizioni 2026 cost?

Composizioni 2026 is free, according to the Roma Capitale culture portal. For the Cantiere Forugh seminar on October 30 at Micro 104, booking was required. For the December 6 shows at Teatro del Lido, it's best to ask the association if booking is needed.

When are the final Composizioni shows at Teatro del Lido?

The final Composizioni shows are on Sunday, December 6, 2026 at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, at Via delle Sirene 22: MIT at 14:00, Le lingue dei muri at 15:30, Cantiere Forugh at 18:00, Macchina Reale at 19:30. From November 30 to December 5 there are workshops and rehearsals.

How do you get to Teatro del Lido di Ostia by public transportation?

You reach Teatro del Lido di Ostia on Metro B to Piramide, the train to Ostia to Lido Centro and bus 01 to Via delle Sirene stop, the sixth one. From there you follow the street, turn right at the intersection and after about 300 meters you reach the entrance.

What is Teatri di Vetro?

Teatri di Vetro is the festival of Triangolo Scaleno Teatro directed by Roberta Nicolai, which turns 20 in 2026. It's organized on five operating levels: Composizioni, dedicated to participatory projects, Trasmissioni, ZOLLA, Oscillazioni and DIARIO.

Can residents take part in the Composizioni projects?

Yes, Composizioni involves residents in the creative processes. During the festival Teatri di Vetro launches public calls on its website and social media: in 2026 there were calls for Playground#Ostia, Le lingue dei muri and I muri raccontano. To find out if there are places in the late November workshops, write to the association.

Where is Micro 104?

Micro 104 is at Via delle Palme 104, in Centocelle. For Composizioni it hosted the Cantiere Forugh seminar on October 30 at 17:00. The Roma Capitale portal suggests taking tram 5 from Termini toward Gerani to the Metro C Gardenie stop, then about 300 meters on foot.

Is Composizioni suitable for children?

Composizioni is listed by the Roma Capitale portal among the events for young children, and one of the projects is a temporary company of children and older people. For a family, the advice is to pick one or two of the four shows on December 6, perhaps the early afternoon ones.

Final advice on Composizioni 2026

Many halls fill up for a famous name, few for a next-door neighbor. Composizioni belongs to the second kind, and in our view it's the more precious one. The advice is clear: mark Sunday, December 6 in your calendar, go to Ostia early, take a walk on the winter seafront and stay for at least two of the four shows.

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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