Montalbano Elicona, a medieval village nestled among the Nebrodi and already proclaimed “Village of villages” for its wonders, is preparing to experience a new cultural season characterized by theatre, beauty and new perspectives. After the success of the first edition, the theater review “The charm of the theater in the village” is ready to enchant the public for the 2025/26 season.
«Last year we started the first real annual program – explains the mayor Antonino Todaro -, marking a new beginning for our theatre, closed for years, then finally renovated, but never really valorised. Now, through human value, weaving a network of transversal artists and users eager for cultural beauty, we want to create a container as lively as it is edifying.” The starting point of this vision is the “Domenico Popolo” theater, called to become a true artistic residence, capable of hosting companies, projects and workshops. Under the artistic direction of Nicola Calabria and the organizational direction of Emanuela Segreto, the season promises to be full of emotions, with a varied program that combines tradition and innovation, classic and contemporary theatre, in a continuous dialogue between established artists and young talents. The project promoted by the “Bank of Hope” therefore returns with even more energy, and opens the curtain to new bets.
«Not a season of shows – reports the artistic director Nicola Calabria – but a cultural lever to restore centrality to Montalbano and build new development trajectories». Among the objectives is the deseasonalisation of activities, offering tangible attractions and services with ever greater continuity: «Not a fight against depopulation – is the line of Mayor Todaro – but a constant commitment aimed at making people fall in love, in arousing the desire to reach a mountain center like Montalbano for its qualities and potential». A model that can also be replicated in other territories, even where a real theater structure is missing. «Every place can become a cultural hotbed – continues Calabria – even by converting spaces that are often unused or abandoned, which can thus be reborn as active and creative facilities». A theatre, therefore, no longer a seasonal container, but a permanent cultural centre, in a succession of workshops for children and adults, music and acting courses, literary meetings, classical music concerts and multidisciplinary projects designed to involve the entire community, not just the local one. Alongside these contents, there is also an entrepreneurial vision, launched with a real cultural brand linked to the theatre. An unprecedented initiative, that of the brand, which aims not only to attract subscribers, but above all sponsors and funding for culture, guaranteeing economic sustainability that fuels a quality offering. The real challenge, in fact, is to make Montalbano a recognizable cultural identity, capable of extending tourism beyond traditional flows.
«The problem that many villages have in common today is the low population density which, without a valid influx of visitors, leads to a stagnant economy – highlights Calabria -. Here, culture can be the engine of a restart, a way to return to living and truly experiencing these centers which have particular strengths to bring back into vogue.” An operation that looks far into the future: «Over time, it is clear, but one step after another it is possible to lay down new foundations, in the awareness that culture not only enriches, but generates the future, promoting socio-work inclusion to the point of combating depopulation». Montalbano is therefore ready to become not only the scenario, but the leading actor of a desirable transformation.