The Nuovo Teatro Sanità, one of the most loved and representative places of popular Neapolitan theatrical culture, closes its doors after years of activity and successes.
The news aroused great sadness among theater enthusiasts and among those who had contributed to his growth and its enhancement.
The opening and the foundation
The Nuovo Teatro Sanità was founded in 2011, thanks to the initiative of a group of artists and activists who decided to open it in the popular Sanità district, creating a place of culture and gathering for the local community.
Over the years, the theater has hosted plays, concerts, film screenings, artistic and social workshops, becoming a point of reference for many people who were looking for a place to meet and express themselves.
The success of the Nuovo Teatro Sanità is mainly due to its ability to enhance Neapolitan popular culture and traditions, through the promotion of dialectal theater performances, Neapolitan music and social comedies that narrated the life and challenges of the popular neighborhoods of the city .
The theater represented an important resource for the local community, especially for young people, who have found a space to develop their creativity and to express their ideas.
The closing of the theatre
The closure of the Nuovo Teatro Sanità is due to the bureaucratic problems that arose following the works made necessary from November 2022.
On November 7th, the season of our theater was suspended due to adaptation works, which the authorities indicated to us as necessary to continue the activity and we immediately took action.
Despite the attempts already made in recent years to adapt the hall according to the legislation for public entertainment, the particularity of the 700th century structure, the fact that the property was owned by the Municipality of Naples but in the availability of the Curia and the consequent bureaucratic difficulties derived from this situation, did not allow us to achieve the result.
We have always kept the institutions informed of our situation, repeatedly seeking help and a meeting table, which unfortunately did not happen. In recent years we have worked with maximum transparency, without shirking any possible resolution of the issue.
But after four months of suspension of activities, the lack of concrete actions by the institutions forces us to announce the definitive closure. Our stage, which has been the home of many artists and which has given many young people who wish to do this job the opportunity to train and find a space that welcomes them, will no longer be able to light up. It is a silence that makes the dark fall. Unfortunately, we must lucidly state that this is a decision to be considered definitive
the artistic collective ntS'
The closure of the New Health Theater represents a great loss for the city of Naples and for the entire world of popular culture.
The theater has been a virtuous example of how culture can become a tool for inclusion and enhancement of local communities, and its disappearance leaves a void that is difficult to fill.
However, the hope is that this is not the last act in the history of the Nuovo Teatro Sanità, but only an interlude, and that it will soon be reborn, perhaps in a new form and with new protagonists, to continue to tell the beauty and vitality of Neapolitan popular culture.
