The Princess of Lampedusa | Teatro Arena del sole

From October 23 to 26, 2025, at Teatro Arena del Sole, Sala Leo de Berardinis, the play The Princess of Lampedusa takes the stage.

Based on the novel by Ruggero Cappuccio, this new production — directed and performed by Sonia Bergamasco — is a score of feelings and emotions, where the vital force of a sublime soul bursts forth: Beatrice Mastrogiovanni Tasca di Cutò, mother of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of The Leopard.

A charismatic, determined, and complex woman, her story emerges from the rubble of a Palermo ravaged by the 1943 bombings. She tells, in the first person, of the passions, failures, and madness that drive a generation, as the present crumbles and war rages on.
"I imagined a bright, empty stage," says Bergamasco, "where the traces of a life, the unspoken words, the longing to still belong, and the certainty of being forever outside, are at the heart of the performance."

The intense and musical rhythm of Cappuccio’s writing weaves an essential narrative, in which the voice splits and multiplies, embodying "the solitude of a woman who, in a timeless present, finally takes her time to tell her story — and a larger history."

Saturday, October 25 at 7:00 PM, the performance will feature open captions, in collaboration with FIADDA Emilia-Romagna.

By Ruggero Cappuccio
Directed and performed by Sonia Bergamasco
Music by Marco Betta, Ivo Parlati, Charles Gounod, Nino Rota
Set design Paolo Iammarone, Vincenzo Fiorillo
Costume design Carlo Poggioli
Lighting design Cesare Accetta
Assistant director Umberto Salvato
Produced by Fondazione Campania dei Festival

Photo by Salvatore Pastore