Compagnia dei Folli: Masters of Street Theatre
Founded in 1984, the Compagnia dei Folli is a renowned street theatre and image company. Our art draws inspiration from the grand Renaissance events, where fantasy and wonder took center stage. The Compagnia dei Folli performers tell timeless stories and legends using stilts, fire, pyrotechnic effects, suspended acrobats, and dancers on walls, transforming squares and streets into magical and fantastical realms.
Innovative Techniques in Street Theatre
We enhance our street theatre performances with nouveau cirque techniques and practices from mountaineering and speleology. Actors suspended on steel cables and elastic ropes, floating balloons, vertical wall dances, and acrobatic displays on fabrics, circles, straps, ropes, and trapezes captivate the audience. Furthermore, pyrotechnic scenic machines, light projections on transparent spheres, illuminated costumes, and monumental videomapping seamlessly complement and complete our shows, creating truly spectacular experiences.
Global Presence and Notable Collaborations
The Compagnia dei Folli has presented numerous shows in Italy, across Europe, and worldwide. We’ve toured extensively in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, and Belgium. Beyond Europe, we’ve had significant tours in Algeria (at the Culturel Europèen Festival), South Africa (at The Arts Festival in Grahamstown), the United Arab Emirates (at the Al Qasba Festival in Dubai), Russia, and in 2011, we were honored guests at the XX Daidongei Festival in Shizuoka, Japan. This extensive reach highlights the global appeal of our street theatre.
We’ve collaborated with notable figures and organizations:
- Vittoria Ottolenghi and Vittoria Cappelli on television projects for Rai.
- Claudio Baglioni for his 1998 Tour of Colors.
- Valeria Campo for the opening event of the Moretti Beer Trophy 2003.
- Argentine director Ricardo Fuks for the prose theatre show “The Wolves of Pito.”
- The International Orchestra of Italy and the Choir of the Teatro Ventidio Basso of Ascoli Piceno for “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff.
In 2011, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian Unity, we debuted “One the core, one the pact, one the cry.”
Event Management and Major Productions
The Compagnia dei Folli has also produced and managed numerous large-scale events, overseeing their technical and artistic direction. These include:
- The Apennine Festival of the Province of Ascoli Piceno.
- The Opening Ceremony of the World Junior Cycling Championships in 2010 in Offida (AP).
- The Re-opening ceremony of the Malatesta Fort in Ascoli Piceno after its restoration.
- The Opening Ceremony of the 2012 World Skating Championships.
- Various opening ceremonies for commercial centers and performances for conventions of major companies like FIAT, HP, KAWASAKI, AGIP, and COOP.
In 2017, we led the opening of the Olympic Games of the Small States in San Marino and the reopening of the stadium of Alexandria. Our expertise in creating impactful events is a cornerstone of the Compagnia dei Folli.