Macbeth Machine at Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, November 30, 2026

Macbeth Machine is on stage on Monday, November 30, 2026 at 17:00 at the Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, a senior center at Via Montecassiano 10, in the San Basilio neighborhood, Municipio IV. It's the new production by the Roman company Il NaufragarMèDolce, a contemporary tragicomedy about power freely inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth, by and with Chiara Casarico, Emanuela Bolco and Luciano Pastori, with live music by Leonardo Viciani. The show is part of the Prove Aperte di Civiltà 2026 series. Entry is free with mandatory booking, via the link published on the event page of the Culture di Roma Capitale portal. For information the company answers at 351 907 3887 and at info@ilnaufragarmedolce.it. To get to Via Montecassiano by public transport, the most reliable reference is the Rome transport company's journey planner.

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

Macbeth Machine in San Basilio at a glance

Macbeth Machine is a physical, musical and visionary show: three actors and a musician take apart the machine of war and human greed, revealing the absurdity and horror hidden behind the desire for domination. The official presentation speaks of clowning, live music, the grotesque and improvisation, and of comedy that serves to reveal tragedy.

Date, time and place

Monday, November 30, 2026, at 17:00, at the Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, Via Montecassiano 10. It's the first scheduled date of the new production. The running time isn't published.

Admission

Admission is free. The Culture di Roma Capitale portal lists booking as mandatory and publishes the link to do it. The company's program, for this date, speaks of free entry. To avoid being left outside, book anyway.

The other dates

Macbeth Machine then returns to the Casa del Municipio IV Ipazia di Alessandria, Viale Rousseau 90, on Friday, December 11 and Saturday, December 12 at 21:00 and Sunday, December 13 at 18:00, and closes the series on Thursday, December 17 at 11:00 at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, with a 6-euro ticket. The Casal Tidei date is the only one in a senior center and the only one on a Monday afternoon.

What you'll see in Macbeth Machine

Macbeth Machine is a tragicomedy about power: it takes the story of the Scottish general who kills the king to take his place and turns it into a show of clowning, music and the grotesque. The tone isn't that of a costume tragedy, but that of physical theater.

The clown and tragedy

The choice of the clown to tell Macbeth is the heart of the project. According to the presentation, the show uses comedy to reveal tragedy and to rebel against the violence of power: laughter doesn't lighten the story, it makes it more readable. Power, seen up close, is also ridiculous, and ridicule makes it less invincible.

Live music

Leonardo Viciani plays live on stage: the music isn't a recorded soundtrack, but a fourth character. In a room as small as a senior center's, you can hear the difference.

Improvisation

Improvisation is part of the show's language. Every performance is a little different from the previous one, and at a first date, like the one on November 30, the relationship with the audience matters even more.

Who is behind Macbeth Machine

Macbeth Machine is by and with Chiara Casarico, Emanuela Bolco and Luciano Pastori, with live music by Leonardo Viciani, and was created within the company Il NaufragarMèDolce.

On stage

Chiara Casarico is artistic director of the company and of Prove Aperte di Civiltà. Emanuela Bolco and Luciano Pastori also perform with her in the urban theater piece Venti secondi di meraviglia. Pastori is also on stage in Misteri Buffoni e altre storie and in Pop Up, Sana e Robusta Costituzione. The three create the show together, a collective writing method that runs through many of the company's productions.

Behind the scenes

Directing supervision is by Giovanna Mori, who is credited as director for the December dates at the Casa del Municipio. The vocal coach is Gabriella Aiello, stage movement is by Alberto Bellandi, sets and costumes by Annamaria Porcelli, technical work by Marta Palocci.

Giovanna Mori

In the same program Giovanna Mori also runs Venti secondi di meraviglia, an urban workshop and then a traveling theater route of poetic appearances with young performers under 35. Her work in the series is tied to body and space, two elements that are central in Macbeth Machine.

Il NaufragarMèDolce, the company

Il NaufragarMèDolce is a Roman cultural association active since 1996, which in 2026 celebrates 30 years of work, with Chiara Casarico as artistic director.

The series

Alongside Prove Aperte di Civiltà, the company organizes the Agorà series, which in 2026 brings theater and music to Rome and the villages of Lazio, and the widespread festival Urgenze, and curates the TOC TOC Teatro section. In 2026 the show Sillabario Pasolini opened the Antimateria festival.

Theater in neighborhood venues

The common thread of the projects is bringing theater where it usually doesn't reach: senior centers, parks, neighborhood museums, municipal halls. The Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei is one of the regular venues of Prove Aperte di Civiltà 2026: in October it hosted Misteri Buffoni e altre storie, and in November it hosts the premiere of Macbeth Machine.

Shakespeare's Macbeth, the starting point

Macbeth is William Shakespeare's tragedy that tells of the catastrophic effects of ambition and the lust for political power. Its first performance is estimated to have taken place in 1606.

A story of power

The tragedy stages the physically violent and psychologically devastating effects of ambition: the outcome is a whirlwind of errors and horrors leading to damnation. That's why, over the centuries, Macbeth has become the archetype of unbridled greed for power and its dangers.

A text published late

The play was published only in the First Folio of 1623, from a theater promptbook. Scholars believe that, of the texts Shakespeare wrote under the reign of James I, it's the one with the most allusions to the king, who was the patron of the playwright's company.

Staged and adapted

Macbeth has been staged and adapted countless times. Macbeth Machine takes its place in this long series of new readings with a precise focus: not the protagonist's psychology, but the mechanism, the machine indeed, that turns ambition into war.

A curious fact about Macbeth Machine at Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, November 30, 2026

The curious fact is the venue of the premiere. A new theater production usually opens in a hall with a curtain and stage lights. Macbeth Machine begins its journey in a senior center in San Basilio, on a Monday afternoon at five, in front of a neighborhood audience. Then it goes to the Casa del Municipio, and only at the end to a real theater, the one at the Lido di Ostia.

It's a choice consistent with the history of the company, which has built its work by taking theater out of the center. And it's consistent with the theme: a show about war and power, performed in front of an audience of seniors who carry the memory of the 20th century with them, takes on a different weight.

Then there's a detail about the title. The word Machine says that the show is less interested in Macbeth as a person than in the device of power: a mechanism that, once set in motion, drags everyone along. The clown is the perfect character to show a mechanism that jams.

Something nobody tells you about Macbeth Machine at Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, November 30, 2026

What nobody says is that a senior center isn't a theater, and that precisely for this reason the show will be different from how it will look on a stage. The actors are a few meters from the audience, the live music comes through unfiltered, the lights are those of the room. It's theater up close.

The second thing concerns the time. 17:00 on a Monday isn't a convenient time for people who work, but it's perfect for the center's regular audience. If you want to see the show in the evening, there are the December dates at the Casa del Municipio, Friday 11 and Saturday 12 at 21:00.

The third concerns booking. Free doesn't mean unlimited: places in a neighborhood room are few, and the official portal lists booking as mandatory. If you turn up without one, you risk being left outside.

The Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei

The Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei is at Via Montecassiano 10, 00156 Rome, in the San Basilio neighborhood, Municipio IV. It's a social center for seniors, devoted to culture and leisure, reachable at 06 4112954.

A center open to the neighborhood

The center takes part in the Nonni su Internet project together with the pupils of the 141st Circolo Didattico of San Cleto: a project that brings seniors and schoolchildren together around the internet. The theater of Prove Aperte di Civiltà fits into this same idea of exchange between generations.

What the room is like

The center's spaces aren't published with dimensions and capacity. It's a neighborhood room, not an equipped theater: no guaranteed raised stage, no numbered seating. The series' shows are designed to adapt to places of this kind.

Accessibility

Information on the room's accessibility isn't published. If you have specific needs, call the company at the contacts given on the event page before booking.

My advice for Macbeth Machine at Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, November 30, 2026

My advice is to book right away, arrive 15 minutes early and sit close. A show of clowning and live music is best enjoyed in the front rows, where you see the actors' expressions and hear the instruments without amplification.

In our view it's worth rereading the plot of Macbeth before going, even just in a summary: a few minutes are enough. With the story of the general who kills the king to take his place clearly in mind, you'll better catch the comic distortions and the quotations that a show of this kind scatters around.

If you have an elderly relative who goes to the center or lives in the neighborhood, it's the right occasion to go together. Theater in senior centers is designed to mix ages, and the Casal Tidei date is the one where the mix is most natural.

Finally, if you can't get away on Monday afternoon, you can choose one of the December dates at the Casa del Municipio IV, Viale Rousseau 90, with evening times on Friday and Saturday and an afternoon one on Sunday.

How to get to Centro Anziani Casal Tidei for Macbeth Machine

The Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei is at Via Montecassiano 10, in the San Basilio neighborhood, in Rome's northeast quadrant, inside the Grande Raccordo Anulare ring road.

By public transport

The route depends a lot on where you start: the Rome transport company's journey planner shows the fastest combination of metro line B and bus to get to Via Montecassiano in time for the show.

By car

The neighborhood is residential and street parking, on a Monday afternoon, is generally possible in the nearby streets. The center doesn't publish information about reserved parking.

Getting back

The show starts at 17:00: you come out before the worst of the evening rush hour, but with darkness already fallen. Check the return services in advance.

Another well-known fact, yet rarely mentioned

It's well known that San Basilio is a working-class neighborhood on Rome's northeast outskirts. Less often do people remember how some parts of it were born, and the story of Casal Tidei is one of the most unusual. In the 1950s, on an illegal subdivision of land belonging to the landowner Elena Tidei, the so-called borgatella Tidei was born: it was built by migrants who came mostly from the Marche, on 67 small plots, reachable by four dirt roads.

The name of the owner of that land has stayed with the place: Via Casal Tidei, the Casal Tidei senior center. And for decades the six narrow internal streets of the borgatella remained private: the City of Rome acquired them and provided infrastructure only in 2004.

The same story repeats itself not far away. Again in the 1950s, between the San Basilio ditch and Via Nomentana, the borgata of San Cleto was born, around the parish dedicated to the third pope, Anacletus I, also built by migrants from the Marche and Umbria, many of whom still live there. Those sitting in the senior center's room on November 30 are often the children or grandchildren of those families.

The right photo to take at Macbeth Machine at Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, November 30, 2026

The right photo is the one that tells of the meeting between a new theater piece and a neighborhood place: the center's room set up for the show, with the chairs in rows and the musician's instruments ready, before the audience comes in. It's a rare image, because senior centers rarely become theaters.

During the show, no photos and no videos: in a small room a lit phone distracts the actors and those sitting nearby. At the end, if the company allows it, a photo of the applause with the center's audience is the best memento.

Outside, the late November light at half past four is already low: if you arrive early you can photograph the low houses of the borgatella and the narrow streets that tell its origins better than any caption.

A last possible image is the church of Sant'Agostina Pietrantoni, on Via Casal Tidei, the most recent parish in the area.

Some important events that happened here

San Basilio is Rome's 30th quartiere, Q. XXX, and also gives its name to urban zone 5E of Municipio IV. It was born between the 1930s and 1940s to house Romans evicted from the central neighborhoods, and after World War II it grew with the high-density buildings built with UNRRA funds, the humanitarian aid organization linked to the Marshall Plan.

In the 1950s the borgate of San Cleto and Casal Tidei were born, built by migrants from the Marche and Umbria. In 1974 the neighborhood was the scene of the so-called San Basilio revolt: families who had occupied more than 100 public housing units on Via Montecarotto and Via Fabriano clashed with the police, police officers and residents were injured, and Fabrizio Ceruso died. After those events, on September 9, 1974, the Lazio Region passed a law recognizing the right to be assigned housing for families who had occupied out of genuine need.

At the end of the 1980s the new development area of La Torraccia was born, right by the ring road. On December 1, 1999 the parish of Sant'Agostina Pietrantoni was established, on Via Casal Tidei. In 2004 the City acquired the internal streets of the borgatella Tidei. In 2007 the new Piazza di San Basilio was built, designed by Piero Ostilio Rossi and Andrea Bruschi.

Who has passed through Macbeth Machine at Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, November 30, 2026

In the 2026 season the Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei has seen, first of all, the company Il NaufragarMèDolce. On Tuesday, October 20 at 17:30 Chiara Casarico, Giulia Nervi and Luciano Pastori brought Misteri Buffoni e altre storie here, an ensemble narration mixing comedy, poetry and folk storytelling, with jesters, mystery plays and eccentric characters. On November 30 Casarico and Pastori return, with Emanuela Bolco and the musician Leonardo Viciani, for the premiere of Macbeth Machine.

The pupils of the 141st Circolo Didattico of San Cleto have also passed through the center, for the Nonni su Internet project, which connects the two generations.

In the neighborhood, a few minutes away, the series also brings an educational dance workshop for children at the San Cleto primary school, run by Chiara Marchesano, with 10 sessions between October and November.

And, in a sense, 20th-century Roman history has passed through here: the families evicted from the center in the 1930s, the migrants from the Marche in the 1950s, the housing struggles of the 1970s. Macbeth Machine, a show about power and war, finds in this room an audience that knows history from direct experience.

San Basilio, the neighborhood around

San Basilio is in the northeast of the city, right by and inside the Grande Raccordo Anulare. It borders Casal Boccone, Settecamini, Tor Cervara and Ponte Mammolo.

The buildings

In the neighborhood are the 13th-century San Basilio farmhouse, the 20th-century Scorticabove farmhouse and the Aldo Fabrizi cultural center, built between 2007 and 2011. In San Cleto are the ruins of the Torre del Coazzo, a 13th-century farmhouse built on the remains of a Roman villa.

The churches

The neighborhood's churches are San Basilio, on Piazzale Recanati, San Cleto, on Via Bernardino Bernardini, San Benedetto Giuseppe Labre at La Torraccia and Sant'Agostina Pietrantoni on Via Casal Tidei.

Archaeology

At the fourth mile of Via Nomentana, in the San Basilio area, there's a Roman villa from the 1st century BC, discovered in 1929 near the farmhouse.

Toward Casal de' Pazzi

To the west, toward Ponte Mammolo and Casal de' Pazzi, are the Parco di Aguzzano and the Casal de' Pazzi Museum, another venue of the series, where in October the concert Trame di Vento e di Voce was held.

Where to eat before or after Macbeth Machine

In San Basilio you'll find cafés, bakeries, pizza-by-the-slice places and neighborhood trattorias, frequented mostly by residents. The 17:00 show fits well with a snack before or an early dinner after.

A neighborhood pizza

On Mondays not all places are open: check before going out or fall back on a pizzeria. For a wider choice you can head back toward metro line B and get off in the Tiburtina area or in San Lorenzo, near the basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura.

At the center

The senior center has no food service open to the show's audience.

Prove Aperte di Civiltà 2026, the series that includes Macbeth Machine

Prove Aperte di Civiltà 2026 is Il NaufragarMèDolce's series of theater, music and performing arts, from September 25 to December 17, 2026 in several places in Municipi IV, VII, X and XI, mostly with free entry. The project won Roma Capitale's public call Lo spettacolo dal vivo fuori dal Centro 2026 and is supported by the Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with SIAE.

The thread of the series

The official presentation speaks of a journey through memory, rights and the present, to build community through live performance. The program alternates shows on the Constitution, like the jester piece Misteri Buffoni e altre storie and the urban theater of Pop Up, Sana e Robusta Costituzione, shows on the memory of the 20th century, like Luca Radaelli's teatro canzone on the 1970s, and traditional music concerts, like those of Maria Moramarco with the songs of the Alta Murgia.

Where Macbeth Machine fits

Macbeth Machine is the only new drama production in the program and occupies its final part: the premiere on November 30, then three performances in December at the Casa del Municipio and the closing on December 17 in Ostia. It's also the show that, more than the others, moves beyond the constitutional theme to speak of power and war in universal terms.

The day before

On Sunday, November 29 at 18:00, at the Casa del Municipio IV Ipazia di Alessandria, the same series presents Madri Costituenti, a teatro canzone piece devoted to the 21 women elected to the Constituent Assembly, with Chiara Casarico among the performers. If you want to follow the company, you can see the two shows on two consecutive days, a few kilometers apart.

Macbeth Machine's journey, from San Basilio to Ostia

Macbeth Machine passes through three very different places between November 30 and December 17, 2026: a senior center, a 1940s villa turned municipal hall and a theater by the sea.

The Casa del Municipio IV

From December 11 to 13 the show goes to the Casa del Municipio IV Ipazia di Alessandria, Viale Rousseau 90: it's the former Villa Farinacci, built in 1940 for the Fascist official Roberto Farinacci by the architect Lorenzo Chiaraviglio, restored until 2010 and named in March 2024 after the philosopher and mathematician Hypatia. For the December dates Giovanna Mori is credited as director and no longer as directing supervisor: a sign that the show, in its first weeks of life, keeps taking shape.

Teatro del Lido di Ostia

On Thursday, December 17 at 11:00 Macbeth Machine closes the series at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, in Municipio X, with a 6-euro ticket. The morning time suggests an audience of students. The program doesn't specify.

Why see the premiere

Each venue changes the show. In the Casal Tidei senior center the relationship with the audience is as direct as possible, with no distance between stage and room: for a show that lives on clowning and improvisation, it's the condition in which the language chosen by the company shows itself most clearly.

How to plan your Macbeth Machine afternoon

Macbeth Machine starts at 17:00 on Monday, November 30: it's an afternoon event that leaves the evening free and is easy to plan with an early afternoon departure.

Before the show

If you're coming from far away, you can stop at the Parco di Aguzzano in the last light, or take a stroll among the low streets of the borgatella Tidei and Piazza di San Basilio, redesigned in 2007. In late November darkness comes early: walks need to be done before five.

With younger audiences

The show is meant for an adult audience but uses languages, clowning, music, gesture, that also reach young people. For a teenager studying Shakespeare at school it can be a different way to meet Macbeth. For small children it's best to ask the company first.

After the show

You come out around half past six or seven, depending on the running time, which isn't published. It's the right time for a neighborhood pizza or to head back to the center without rushing. If you're driving, you'll have to deal with traffic on the ring road and Via Nomentana at commuting time.

Late November in Rome, neighborhood theater

In late November Rome gets ready for the holiday month, and the theater spread through the neighborhoods is at one of its best moments: free or low-cost shows, small rooms, audiences of residents. The day before Macbeth Machine, on Sunday, November 29 at 18:00, the same series brings Madri Costituenti, a teatro canzone piece on the 21 women of the Constituent Assembly, to the Casa del Municipio IV. If you have time on the weekend you can add a walk at Villa Torlonia, on Via Nomentana, or at the Verano.

Frequently asked questions about Macbeth Machine

When is Macbeth Machine on at Centro Anziani Casal Tidei?

Macbeth Machine is on Monday, November 30, 2026 at 17:00 at the Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei, Via Montecassiano 10, in San Basilio. It's the first scheduled date of Il NaufragarMèDolce's new production, within the Prove Aperte di Civiltà 2026 series.

How much does Macbeth Machine cost?

Macbeth Machine at Centro Anziani Casal Tidei is free. The Culture di Roma Capitale portal lists booking as mandatory and publishes the link to do it. For information the company answers at 351 907 3887 and at info@ilnaufragarmedolce.it.

Who is on stage in Macbeth Machine?

Macbeth Machine is by and with Chiara Casarico, Emanuela Bolco and Luciano Pastori, with live music by Leonardo Viciani. Directing supervision is by Giovanna Mori, vocal coaching by Gabriella Aiello, stage movement by Alberto Bellandi, sets and costumes by Annamaria Porcelli.

What is Macbeth Machine about?

Macbeth Machine is a contemporary tragicomedy about power, freely inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth. Through clowning, live music, the grotesque and improvisation, three actors and a musician take apart the machine of war and human greed.

Are there other dates of Macbeth Machine in Rome?

Yes, Macbeth Machine returns to the Casa del Municipio IV Ipazia di Alessandria, Viale Rousseau 90, on December 11 and 12 at 21:00 and December 13 at 18:00, and closes on December 17 at 11:00 at Teatro del Lido di Ostia, with a 6-euro ticket.

How do you get to the Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei?

The Centro Sociale Anziani Casal Tidei is at Via Montecassiano 10, in the San Basilio neighborhood, Municipio IV. The Rome transport company's journey planner shows the most suitable combination of metro line B and bus.

Is Macbeth Machine suitable for young people?

Macbeth Machine uses the language of clowning and music, but it talks about war and the violence of power. No recommended age range is published: for younger children, ask the company before booking.

Final advice on Macbeth Machine

Macbeth Machine at Centro Anziani Casal Tidei is the first outing of a new production, in a place theater almost never reaches. It's a rare combination: Shakespeare reread through clowning and live music, a few meters from the audience, in a neighborhood room that knows the history of 20th-century Rome up close. My advice is to book right away, arrive early and sit at the front. If you prefer the evening you can wait for the December dates at the Casa del Municipio, but in our view the premiere, with the center's audience, is the one that best shows what this show wants to be.

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

Planning a trip to Rome? The English-language guides to visiting the city are on ItalyPlanner.com.