The Donizetti Summer Camp is back, an opportunity to experience all the spaces of the Donizetti Theater, from the rehearsal room to the dressing rooms to the stage, as true protagonists, getting to know and develop their talents in a tight-knit group of children/young people,
who will have the courage to stage a reduction of an opera in just one week.

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Summer is just around the corner and the Donizetti Theater Foundation is back to offer, after the success of past editions, as many as four different weeks of Donizetti Summer Camp, which this year is titled WE ARE TEMPESTS: children and teens between the ages of 8 and 13 will be able to experience the spaces of the Donizetti Theater in an unusual way, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with the possibility of early at 8 a.m. and late at 5:30 p.m.).

Registration will open on April 7, 2026 at 12 noon.

Additional registration details qui
Form to be filled out for registration here

Donizetti Summer Camp is a unique experience that will take children and young people on a discovery of the operas of Gaetano Donizetti and other composers and their fascinating reinterpretations, immersed in the wonder of the Donizetti Theater, from the stage to the rehearsal room to the set design workshop. In a creative and stimulating atmosphere, they will have the opportunity to work on four operas, each featuring an original interpretation that opens new perspectives on opera through theater and song. Each week ends with the creation of a choral performance in which the whole group is the protagonist and each stage element will have been created in dedicated sessions.
An educational and playful experience aimed at children ages 8-13!
Donizetti’s theater, music and life become an educational and cultural tool to help children/young people get in touch with expressive arts and new experiences, which they would probably not have access to if the Foundation did not provide the musical and architectural heritage, starting with the Donizetti Theater itself.
Playtime is also planned to allow children/children to also engage in teamwork and learn about new places in the city.
The pedagogical and artistic part is conducted by female trainers specialized in different disciplines:
★ Silvia Briozzo – drama trainer who is an expert in school workshops – reducing the works libretto and directing the final essay
★ Alessandra Giolo – music trainer specializing in childhood and teacher of DO teaching team – musical reduction of works and preparation of sung parts
★ Alberto Allegretti – DO props and teaching team instructor – sets and costumes
The group is managed by certified educators from Alchemy Cooperative.
The final recital will take place on the stage of the Donizetti Theater on Friday at 5 p.m. and will be open to the families of participating children.

FOR WHOM AND WHEN
8-13 years old (3rd primary to 2nd secondary in school year 2025-2026)
June 15-19, 2026: The theatrical conveniences and inconveniences: will a company of scrappy performers make it through rehearsals and onto the stage?
June 22-26, 2026: The Furious in the island of St. Domingo: Cardenio and his troubled love, but with a happy ending
June 29-July 3, 2026: The regiment’s daughter: a free girl, a hundred daddy soldiers, and a story that turns the rules upside down!
July 6-10, 2026: The Cinderella: the fairy tale of fairy tales, what do we have to explain?

TITLES.
The theatrical conveniences and inconveniences of Gaetano Donizetti
But what happens before a performance debuts? During rehearsals, when everyone involved in the staging is agitated, anxious, worried about being able to give their best? According to this opera buffa by Gaetano Donizetti, a series of comical patatrac happens. We will have fun getting into the hyperbolic emotions that artists and performers go through to prepare to face the audience. Highlighting frailties and delusions of protagonism, in a mad play of parts. Ready to laugh out loud?

Il furioso on the island of Santo Domingo by Gaetano Donizetti
A semi-serious reinterpretation of Donizetti’s opera, centered on the fear of diversity. The opera becomes a whirlwind of misunderstandings and misinterpretations that will turn the staging into a tragicomic game, full of surprises and reflections on our relationship with each other.

The Daughter of the Regiment by Gaetano Donizetti
The action takes place in a military camp where Maria and her many fathers live: the soldiers who raised her after finding her, very small, abandoned. Now Maria, is a bright girl, full of courage and resourcefulness but her life is on the threshold of a big change. The daughter of the regiment will be a great stage play where roles are turned upside down, stereotypes are fought against, exposing their limitations and hypocrisies. Mary is a symbol of freedom, and the war-weary regiment will help her with love and lightness to find her way.

Gioachino Rossini’s Cinderella
Rossini’s opera is transformed into a fairy tale where goodness and intelligence triumph. In this version, Angelina (our Cinderella) is a young woman who, with humility and wisdom, defeats all forms of wickedness. A more mature and profound reading of a classic story that invites us to reflect on true inner strength.