A season, that of the performing arts of the LAC, which reaffirms the cultural center's multidisciplinary vocation, a home dedicated to the arts: from prose theater to contemporary drama, from international dance ensembles to performances by young choreographers, from pop concerts to major musicals, and even opera. A broad, bold, and thoughtful offering, capable of reaching diverse audiences and reflecting the richness of the contemporary performing arts.
Performing Arts: Productions at the LAC
The program opens with a focus on bel canto. The two-part opera series will be performed from September 15th to 21st. The human voice by Francis Poulenc and Cavalleria rusticana by Pietro Mascagni, directed by Emma Dante and conducted by Francesco Cilluffo, leading the Orchestra della Svizzera italiana, with the Swiss Radio and Television Choir conducted by Donato Sivo.
From September 30th to October 5th it debuts Storm Diptych, a special event resulting from a high-level training project directed by Carmelo Rifici, which reinterprets two Chekhovian classics: Three sisters e The SeagullThe diptych will also be presented as a marathon on October 4th and 5th as part of the FIT Festival.
Alessandro Bandini is the protagonist of PER SEMPRE (October 22–24) for which he is the creator and dramatist, a work inspired by the tormented love story between Giovanni Testori and Alain Toubas. On April 14 and 15, VicoQuartoMazzini will stage My stupid intentions, inspired by the novel of the same name which in 2022 revealed the talent of the young Bernardo Zannoni.
Dance is the protagonist with Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky in a reinterpretation by Mauro Bigonzetti (December 19–21), with the dancers of the MM Contemporary Dance Company and the OSI directed by Philippe Béran. Returning to the stage, this time on the LAC stage, I would like a voice (15 October) by and with Tindaro Granata, finalist show at the Hystrio Twister Award 2025. On 21 and 22 October arrives Richard III by Shakespeare, Antonio Latella's latest directorial effort, with Vinicio Marchioni in the title role.
Gabriele Lavia will be Re Lear in the show of the same name which he also directs (12–14 November). Ample space for the contemporary scene with To fail by Francesca Sproccati (3 October and 4–5 December), Fear no more (November 13–14, Foce) directed by Simona Gonella on a text by Francesca Sangalli, Scorezero by Elena Boillat (5–6 December) and Side notes de I Gordi (December 11–12), an ironic reflection on the ritual of the funeral wake. Gardi Hutter, a faithful and constant guest of the LAC season, returns on February 6 with his new work gardiZERO, while resident company Trickster-p debuts with Common land (February 25–March 4), inspired by the mycelial networks that nourish and connect life in ecosystems.
Panoramic Banana, on stage on March 31st, is the new mk production directed by Michele Di Stefano. for hikers (May 20–21) is an interdisciplinary creation by Lisa Lurati and Giordano Rush that transforms the theater into an immersive experience. The family-friendly show returns to the Foce on November 23. The book of all things by Teatro Pan. The section dedicated to productions closes with a preview of one of the events of the Lugano Dance Project, whose third edition will take place from June 10th to 14th. Produced by LAC Lugano Arte e Cultura, Sadler's Wells, Pina Bausch Foundation, Tanztheater Wuppertal, the performance will take place in the Sala Teatro on June 10th and 11th. Kontakthof–Echoes of '78, the restaging of Pina Bausch's work that has entered the history of world choreography, created by Meryl Tankard, who also performs it, together with the same dancers who were the protagonists 47 years ago.
Focus Parallel Lives
Literary classics, especially the great novels of the 19th and 20th centuries, strongly inspire contemporary drama. Contemporary directors and playwrights reread, rewrite, and freely draw inspiration from authors such as Gustave Flaubert, Ray Bradbury, Alexander Dumas fils, Virginia Woolf, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Emilio Salgari. The season's main focus is enriched and complemented by Parallel Visions: Between Word and Image, a film series curated by Nicola Fiori and produced in collaboration with JFC Cinema – IRIDE Lugano. The series features films based on great novels and plays that, after being consecrated on the big screen, are returning to life on the stage.
The International Theatre
In keeping with its openness to the international scene, the LAC hosts important creations by great contemporary directors. This season, The (18–19 February) by Lukasz Twarkowski, a Polish director who is attracting the attention of major European theatres; Medea's Children by Bernese director Milo Rau (21–22 March), a contemporary reinterpretation of the myth of Medea; Three Times Left is Right by Julian Hetzel (October 12), a provocative reflection on ideological conflicts in which violence has now become normalized, scheduled as part of the FIT Festival.
Emma Dante Staff
Director who has established herself as one of the most original voices in contemporary theatre, capable of a scenic writing that goes beyond every convention, Emma Dante signs the text and directs the The angel of the hearth (February 23 and 24, Sala Teatro), a work in which he addresses the theme of femicide.
Finzi Pasca Company
Returns to the stage in the Sala Teatro Titize – A Venetian Dream (9–11 January), of which Daniele Finzi Pasca He is the creator, director, and light designer. Faithful to the language of dreams, Titizé creates evanescent images, allusions, and mirages. Finzi Pasca is also the director and light designer of First Face by Australian playwright Suzie Miller, a monologue presented in national premiere from March 6 to 8, a work that invites us to reflect on the concept of justice, in an often contradictory judicial system.
Theater
Among the protagonists of the season, Alessandro Serra stages Tragùdia - The Song of Oedipus (October 29), a rewriting of the myth in Greek, starring Jared McNeill, a longtime actor from Peter Brook's company. Massimo Popolizio directs and stars. Homecoming by Harold Pinter (November 21–22), a powerful portrait of family tensions. Bovary, at the Foce on 17th and 18th December, directed by Stefano Cordella, focuses on the relationship between Emma and Charles Bovary, told through scenes of a wedding, while on 13th and 14th January in the Sala Teatro Ferdinando Bruni and Francesco Frongia direct Amadeus by Peter Shaffer. Roberto Latini is the protagonist of Antigone by Jean Anouilh (15–16 January). At Foce Luca Spadaro continues his investigation into discrimination in the XNUMXst century with Too bad it's female (January 16–18); the performance will be held on January 21 The Foxes with Manuela Mandracchia and Giorgio Colangeli. Oscar De Summa writes and stars Parallel lines are love and death (January 31), investigation into unfinished relationships. Like birds by Wajdi Mouawad (February 3–4, Sala Teatro), directed by Marco Lorenzi, tells the love story between Eitan, a young Israeli, and Wahida, a girl of Arab origin, which matures in a context marked by conflict, pain, and hatred. On February 14 and 15, Davide Livermore directs Fantozzi. A tragedy, with Gianni Fantoni. On February 25th Alice Sinigaglia will bring to the stage A gigantic spectacle, inspired by Gargantua and Pantagruel. On March 14th Sotterraneo returns with Fire was the cure, loosely based on Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. On March 17th and 18th, Andrea De Rosa will conduct at the LAC Orlando from Virginia Woolf, with Anna Della Rosa, while at the Foce Giampiero Rappa presents the surreal comedy The man of dreams; on April 15th Giovanni Ortoleva conducts La signora delle camelie, a reflection on love and violence. On April 25th and 26th, Daniele Bernardi will be the protagonist of the monologue I am Nijinsky, taken from the diaries of the famous dancer. Lella Costa is Lisistrata (April 27–28) in a modern and political version directed by Serena Sinigaglia. It closes the theatre season. Sandokan or the end of the Adventure of I Sacchi di Sabbia, an ironic reinterpretation of Salgari's myth (May 6).
Dance
The LAC dance season opens with the debut of the prestigious São Paulo Dance Company, which presents three very different choreographies on November 19: Indigo Rose by Jirí Kylián; The Song of Rossignol by Marco Goecke; I've Changed My Mind by Shahar Binyamini. On December 13th Clara Delorme presents Rest, a work for four dancers that takes the form of a collective lament. The Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève returns to Lugano on January 29th and 30th with The Mirage,, a visionary creation by Damien Jalet inspired by the optical phenomena of mirages and the Fata Morgana, which depicts humanity walking across a desert with a strong symbolic meaning.
On March 1st, Akram Khan, the Anglo-Bengali choreographer, will stage Thikra: Night of Remembering, a journey that intertwines past and present and pays homage to ancestors, with sixteen dancers who blend the classical Indian dance Bharatanatyam with contemporary dance. Now in its twentieth edition, Steps, the Migros Culture Percentage Dance Festival, offers two events: on March 11th Timeless Encounters, a meeting between contemporary dance and breakdance; on March 29th the Goteborgs Operans Danskompani, an innovative Swedish company, arrives for the first time in Lugano where it presents Hammer, conceived and directed by Alexander Ekman.
On April 18th and 19th, Roberto Bolle comes to the LAC: an unmissable opportunity to see the star perform on stage alongside international dance stars. The season closes with Human in the loop (April 21), performance for two dancers conceived by Nicole Seiler that explores the limits of artificial thinking on stage, and Rimaye – A material revelation (April 22) by Silvia Dezulian and Filippo Porro, a choreographic reflection on the relationship between the glacial body and the material body, on the ephemeral and transformation.
Music and Musical
The LAC season is punctuated by major musicals and concerts. From November 20th to 25th, CATSAndrew Lloyd Webber's record-breaking musical. The family musical. The little Prince (April 25–26) tells a timeless fairy tale with images and suggestions. Returns Notre Dame of Paris (May 27–31), one of the most beloved musical shows of all time. On the musical front, there are Marco Masini (October 10, Congress Palace) and Carmen Consoli (October 25, LAC), while the traditional gospel concert with the Spirit Gospel Choir of New Orleans (December 23) will bring the energy of the Louisiana Baptist Churches to the stage.
