The Laboratorio Teatro Settimo, founded in 1981, is a Resident Theatre Company dedicated to Innovation and Research.
The company organizes theatre seasons and festivals, not only in its home theatre but also in numerous other venues throughout the city, the metropolitan area and the entire region. Teatro Settimo is also well-known as a resident theatre company throughout Italy and in many other countries around the world, where it has staged a number of performances of great artistic interest.
After a long period of local activity, during which the group developed and fine-tuned its theatrical and laboratory skills by means of a number of “fusion” projects which were designed to bring together school, city, theatre and the world of work, Teatro Settimo began to focus on the search for a peculiar artistic identity centred on the work of the actor and on dramaturgy, staging productions that, within just a few years, found favour with national and international critics. During this period, the group dedicated its efforts not only to staging theatrical productions but also to the organization and promotion of other theatrical activities. Its productions of Esercizi sulla tavola di Mendeleev (“Exercises on Mendeleev’s Table”) and Elementi di struttura del sentimento (“Structural Elements of Emotion”) won plaudits from Italian and international critics, who praised the important rôle played by the company in dramaturgical research and in re-establishing a close rapport with the public. In Acquarium, the company reached a high point in dramaturgical creativity with the highly-imaginative use of mundane stage props – simple, commonly-used plastic objects were transformed into marvellous marine figures.
On 15 December, 1987, the Teatro Garibaldi in Settimo Torinese was inaugurated, and immediately became the company’s permanent “home”.
In 1988, the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment recognized the company as a Centre of Theatre Research and Production.