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Milan's Sormani Courtyard Festival: A Month of Theatre, Music & Comedy Under the Stars

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From July 1 to 31, the Courtyard of Honour at the Sormani Library hosts the seventh edition of "Teatro Menotti in Sormani" — the summer festival conceived and directed by Emilio Russo, which has become one of the most recognisable fixtures on Milan's cultural summer calendar.

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For an entire month, theatre engages in dialogue with music, literature, storytelling, original comedy, and civic theatre, building a programme that spans different languages, generations, and sensibilities. Designed for a broad audience, the festival pairs leading figures from the Italian stage with new artistic experiences, original productions, and performances that interpret the present through classics and contemporary works alike.

The 2026 Edition

This year's edition carries special significance as it forms part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the Sormani Library — an iconic institution of Milanese culture. Before each performance, young actors from the city's theatre schools will guide the audience with short staged readings dedicated to the library's history and the 70th anniversary of Giovanni Testori's Nebbia al Giambellino, the first novel in his Secrets of Milan cycle, produced in collaboration with the Milan Library System.

The Lineup

The programme features over 30 events spanning comedy, musical theatre, literature, and live music. Opening the festival is Giobbe Covatta with "70 — Summary of Previous Episodes", with other guests including Gene Gnocchi, Ginevra Di Marco, Paolo Briguglia, Piero Colaprico, Corrado d'Elia, Gianna Coletti, Lucia Vasini, Greg & Max Paiella, and Enrico Lo Verso, alongside numerous companies and artists from across Italy.

Alongside these star performers, the programme showcases productions dedicated to Dante, Shakespeare, Pirandello, Oscar Wilde, Antonio Tabucchi, Euripides, Charles Bukowski, Dino Buzzati, Woody Allen, Rino Gaetano, and Luis Sepúlveda, weaving together memory, poetry, music, irony, and civic reflection. Musical highlights range from the blues of The Greenlight Blues Project to the emerging talents of the Campusband Musica e Matematica national final, a sonic journey through Japan with Otodama, and a theatrical-musical tribute to Rino Gaetano.

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