Italian theater is back in the Big Apple!

June 9^th to 24^th will see the return of In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, back with a second edition to celebrate Italian theater all over New York City after the huge success of its inaugural run in June 2013. In Scena! – Italian for On Stage! –  is the first Italian theater festival to organize events in all five boroughs of the city, and this year’s exciting edition is bigger and even more ambitious than before! The festival, organized by the preeminent Italian theater company in New York, Kairos Italy Theater, will feature no less than six full productions ‘made in Italy,’ all of which are having their US premieres during the festival. Headlining this year’s festival is “Hanno Tutti Ragione,” based on a book by Paolo Sorrentino and performed by Iaia Forte, a leading actress in Sorrentino’s latest film “The Great Beauty” (Best Foreign Language Film, 2014 Academy Awards.)

The other five productions hail from a range of different Italian regions, including Calabria, Sicily and Apulia, and deal with themes as varied as love (I Corteggiatori), safety in the workplace (RaeP), and mafia (Mutu), while touching upon hot topics such as soccer (L’Italia S’e’ Desta) in honor of this year’s Soccer World Cup and the struggles of being young immigrant artists in New York City (Neighbors).

The festival will also feature four readings of Italian plays in translation, among them the winner of the Mario Fratti Award for emerging Italian authors. The award is being presented for the first time this year, with a panel of experts selecting the winner from dozens of entries. This year’s winning work will be translated and staged as a reading on June 23^rd.

Kicking off this year’s festival is a star-studded Opening Night. From 7pm on June 9^th, the historic Arthur Avenue Market in Little Italy in the Bronx will be taken over by a celebration of Italian theater. Special guest Iaia Forte will be performing excerpts from Eduardo De Filippo’s work – to whom the festival is dedicated. Tickets are $75 and include a buffet dinner by Italian food expert – and featured chef of the Food Network – Chef David Greco, as well as premium drinks by Punzone’ Organic Italian Vodka and Bronx Beer.

Last year’s festival, presented as an official event of “2013 Year of Italian Culture” in the USA, was a resounding success. Three productions had their US premieres, and were accompanied by three special events and four readings, all playing to full houses and enraptured audiences. The extensive press coverage and audience feedback enthusiastically praised the festival for its wide reach – going beyond Manhattan to present events in all five boroughs – and for the opportunity it gave audiences to connect with Italian works and artists that would not normally be accessible to them. This year’s edition is on track to make even more theatergoers familiar with the best of contemporary – and classical – Italian theater. Come join us from June 9^th to June 14^th!

Get your tickets now at inscenany.com. Tickets are $15 for Shows, $5 for Readings, $75 for Opening Night. Buy a ticket for a show and see a reading on the same day for free!