announcement testinscena
The Testinscena® Call for Proposals.
With the aim of supporting the artistic growth of young companies, the Claudia Lombardi Foundation for Theatre promotes and organizes testinscena®, a competition of unpublished plays in the Italian language. The winning company is rewarded with a cash prize, three weeks of residency, coaching by a professional director or playwright, initial distribution, and other benefits
The call for proposals is conceived and supported by the Claudia Lombardi Foundation for Theatre, with the patronage of LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura, Events and Congress Division of the City of Lugano, Hystrio, and with the support of Teatro Foce (Lugano), Campo Teatrale (Milan), FIT International Festival of Contemporary Theatre and Scene (Lugano) and Pastelle Media.
TO WHOM IT IS ADDRESSED
The call is aimed at young professional theater companies based in Switzerland or Lombardy, of which all actors on stage are under 35 years of age.
MODE OF PARTICIPATION
The theme of the call is free and participation is free. Only projects in Italian language are accepted. The next edition of the call will open in January 2026.
Previous Editions
In the 2024 edition, the jury consists of: Francesca Sangalli, playwright, author and screenwriter; Claudio Chiapparino, director of the Events and Congresses Division of the City of Lugano; Sabrina Faller, cultural journalist; Gianfranco Helbling, director of the Teatro Sociale in Bellinzona; Claudia Lombardi, president of the Claudia Lombardi Foundation for Theatre; Ermanno Nardi, project manager of Industria Scenica; and Donato Nubile, artistic director of Campo Teatrale in Milan.
Testinscena® Winner
The jury found “high artistic quality and sincere motivationin all the finalists,and therefore hopes that all the projects will be brought to fruition,” but winning the 2024 edition of the call is the Sorengo-based company Divano project with Un live podcast.
“The jury awards the testinscena 2024 prize to the Sofa Project company for its well-executed experiment in contaminating the theatrical medium of expression with writing conceived for the podcast. The work presented captured with astute irony and critical thinking the condition of bewilderment and unease of a young generation grappling with the attempt to recognize itself in a creative craft. The jury also appreciated the collective’s ability to get involved by manipulating their autobiographies between reality and fiction, while maintaining freshness in interpretation and staging. The use of entertainment’s own narrative to sink into the complexities of life, slipping between different planes of contemporaneity, also attracted interest. “
Special Mentions
A special mention is awarded to the project Contronatura by the SE²I Collective: “the jury recognized signs of a potentially deflagrating work and wants to encourage the research path to a full realization of the project’s ambitions.”
The collective wins, thanks to this mention, two weeks of artistic residency at Campo Teatrale in Milan.
New for the 2024 edition is the awarding of a mention by the audience jury, which expresses its preference for Manicaretti, by the Cholstomér collective.
“The performance project “Manicaretti,” by the Cholstomér collective, won over the audience jury mainly due to the strength of the acting and the ability to create an atmosphere of suspense and mystery. In just 15 minutes, the actors managed to render the psychological complexity of their characters, inhabiting the stage with increasing tension. The ability to gradually unravel the plot, hinting at a development of the drama toward noir, captured the audience’s attention, keeping interest and emotional involvement high. The pace was well calibrated, with a crescendo of intensity that was able to emphasize the sharpening of the couple’s dynamic. The well-conceived dramaturgy also shows significant potential for further coherent development.”
Following that mention, the Foundation chose to reward the Cholstomèr Collective by offering them a week-long artistic residency and programming the show within its upcoming new play review.
The Foundation expresses great satisfaction with the success of this sixth edition of testinscena, which was characterized by the high quality and variety of projects received. The warm participation of the audience, both during the finals and at the awards ceremony, further demonstrated the importance and value of this initiative.
Other finalists
The Histrionic
Project of Company The Histrionic
Versipelle
Project by Ototoi Company
In the fifth edition of testinscena®, the jury consists of: Francesca Sangalli, playwright, author and screenwriter; Claudio Chiapparino, director of the Events and Congresses Division of the City of Lugano; Ermanno Nardi, project manager of Industria Scenica; Gianfranco Helbling, director of the Teatro Sociale of Bellinzona; Sabrina Faller, cultural journalist Rete Due (RSI).
Important notice: starting from this edition, the call for testinscena® takes on a biennial basis, in order to allow the Claudia Lombardi Foundation for Theatre to carefully follow and support the whole project of the winning company until the official debut of the show.
Winner testinscena®
The jury unanimously decreed Giostra, by the Agemò company, the winning project of the edition, particularly appreciating its layered work on dramaturgy. The collective demonstrates on stage and at the interview a unity of purpose, a chorally sustained participation in the staging, and a willingness to delve into themes of existential impact and intimate nature, remaining open to all the suggestions the text proposes.
Other Finalists
The Veil of Maya
Project of Synecdoche Company.
Intermittences
Project by Hentopan Company
She loves me or she doesn’t
Project by Chorós Theatre Company
The jury of testinscena® 2020 consists of: Francesca Sangalli (jury president), playwright, author and screenwriter; Anna Ruchat, poet, author and translator; Claudio Chiapparino, director of the Events and Congress Division of the City of Lugano; Donato Nubile, artistic director of Campo Teatrale Milano; and Massimo Monaci, assistant artistic director of LAC.
Because of the special period, given the impossibility of holding the finals, all finalist projects are awarded equal prizes.
Finalist projects
And fall will be mild
Errico/Del Grosso Company project
They say it will be hot
Curto/Di Cesare/Gallucci/Pietrovita Company project
Good for nothing
Open Eyes Company Project
Five senses are not a tragedy
Project by Compagnia Officine Porpora
The hamster constellation
Salz Company project
For the third edition, the jury consists of: Giorgio Thoeni (jury president), journalist and theater critic; Claudio Chiapparino, director of the Events and Congresses Division of the City of Lugano; Yvonne Pesenti Salazar, artistic director of the PiazzaParola Literature Festival and president of the Dante Alighieri Society of Italian Switzerland; Francesca Sangalli, playwright, author and screenwriter; and Donato Nubile, artistic director of Campo Teatrale Milano.
Winner testinscena®
The project I sonnambuli by the Domesticalchimia Company is awarded by the jury for the good stage performance of the fragment presented, which allowed a glimpse of an interesting future development of the work. The rehearsal demonstrates an intelligent balance between the different components of the staging: text, direction and interpretation of the actors complement each other well and meet the criteria of the call. The theme of perversion stands out as one of the keys to interpreting postmodern societies, supported by the right vein of irony. The direction is able to enhance the different elements by skillfully guiding the actors.
Special Mention
The jury singles out with a mention the project Annunciation by Compagnia La memoria del teatro-theatrical collective Le Ore Piccole: a valuable, well-structured text that lends itself to various interpretative possibilities, putting the viewer in front of universal themes such as the relationship between individual and society, motherhood as an act of power, and the relationship between individual and collective choice.
Other finalists
Catherine who dressed in men’s clothes for eight years
Apis Project – Reagent Theaters
Open Arms
Caterpillar Company Project
The president
Theatre Company Project Les Moustaches
In the second edition of 2018, the jury is composed of: Carmelo Rifici (president of the jury), artistic director of LuganoInScena and director of the Piccolo Teatro School in Milan; Claudio Chiapparino, director of the Events and Congresses Division of the City of Lugano; Giorgio Thoeni, journalist and theater critic; Francesca Sangalli, playwright, screenwriter and author, as well as teacher of creative writing, dramaturgy and storytelling at the CFP Bauer school in Milan; Francesca Garolla, dramaturg and author, collaborator in the artistic direction of Teatro-i in Milan.
Winner testinscena®
The project Finisterre by the company praticidealists won the approval of the entire jury, which was deeply touched by the choice of subject.
Alejandro Finisterre’s biography opens up evocative scenarios, bringing to life an important page of history through the metaphor of foosball, which he invented. The lightness of the game, contrasting with the tragic nature of the events narrated brings out the sensitivity and potential of the play.
The jury believes that with proper accompaniment, the project can grow significantly.
Special Mention
The jury marks with a mention the Comteatro Company‘s project The Great Evil with All Good. Special appreciation to the young playwright’s courage in telling a painful story through the dual register of lyric and naturalistic.
Other finalists
M-Orpheus
Project of InAction Company
The warrior’s breakfast
Guinea Pigs Company project
Sing and win!
Caterpillar Company project
For the first edition, the jury is composed of: Carmelo Rifici (president of the jury), artistic director of LuganoInScena and director of the Piccolo Teatro School in Milan; Claudio Chiapparino, director of the Events and Congresses Division of the City of Lugano; Serena Sinigaglia, director and artistic director of the ATIR Teatro Ringhiera company in Milan; Renato Gabrielli, theatrical author and professor of dramaturgy at the “Paolo Grassi” School and the Civica Scuola di Cinema in Milan; and Fabio Pusterla, poet, translator, literary critic and professor at the University of Italian Switzerland.
Testinscena® Winner
The Jury, in unanimously awarding the 2017 Testinscena Prize to the project La fabbrica della felicità by the company Cambio di fuoco/Connettiv024grammi, emphasizes the originality of the subject and its political-cultural necessity. Irene Canali’s text, inspired by Aldous Huxley’s New World , questions the issues of our daily living, descending into the depths of individual existences and solitudes. The very young company impresses with energy, determination and willingness to build an autonomous vision.
Special Mentions
The Jury also awards, again unanimously, a special mention to two projects that have particularly distinguished themselves:
Cheap Beer, by the company LecheDeTigre, which impressed with the solidity of the artistic ensemble and the maturity of the project.
The Carrefour is also open at night, of the Lumen Company. Projects, arts, theater , of which we appreciate the richness of the dramaturgical aspect, the urgency of the topic and the good presentation.
Other finalists
Speed Date Hotel
Project by Gli Artimanti – Milan
Deep web
Project by Blusclint Company