FAcT – Festival of Academic Theatre

Since the year of its foundation, the SNS Theatre Group has gathered around it the creative forces of dozens of students, meanwhile becoming a reference point for the cultural life of the SNS and of the city.

2018 witnessed the formation, arising out of the experience of the Theatre Group, of the Festival of Academic Theatre (FAcT), with the aim of creating a national and international network of the most interesting university theatres: a festival dedicated to students and city alike, which for three days each year is filled with events linked to the theatre.
Now in its third edition, each year FAcT welcomes some of the most interesting European university theatre companies, hosted by the SNS, so that they can  perform on the city's stages: an occasion for the exchange of experiences, ideas and intuition.
The first (2018) and the second  edition (2019) of FAcT were awarded the medal of Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic, as a representation prize. This is a recognition for the activities of the Festival, which aims at creating an opportunity for fraternity and sharing among young people from all over Europe.

FAcT has also committed itself to the promotion of a theatre research group at the SNS: ReAcT.

In addition, 2020 saw the creation of STePS, the Pisa-Spezia School of Theatre. STePS is an incubator for the theatre, giving dozens of talented young people the opportunity to take their first steps in the world of the theatre. FAcT proposes a two-year project for the production and staging of two original plays, entirely created and managed by young people new to the world of the theatre. The preparation of workshops is a logical outcome: from upper secondary schools to university, from academies to amateurs, each stage of the project offers workshops.
STePS is also a way to connect two cities: in fact, two fundamental members of the project are the City Council and the Civic Theatre of La Spezia, where the plays will be staged. The project will thus create a bridge between Pisa and La Spezia, between the theatrical and academic worlds, thanks to the generous partnership of Iren, the initiative's main sponsor.

Finally, linked to the activities of the theatre group is an experimental project in collaboration with the inmates of the Don Bosco prison of Pisa that has enabled, with the support of the  Associazione I Sacchi di Sabbia, the organisation of shared readings and short performances at the prison.