This long edition, which lasted 33 days, hosted 840 artists from the national and international scene in 227 events held in 37 locations in the Campania region. Most of the shows, both national and international, were world premieres. This edition hosted not only shows but also training activities, with 285 participants in the workshops.

The Festival also co-produced eight of the shows of its rich programme: for the International section, the show Scene da un matrimonio with Teatro Stabile di Napoli; it also had seven other co-productions for the National section: Sei with Compagnia Scimone Sframeli; Si nota all’imbrunire with Il Cardellino/Teatro Stabile dell’Umbria; Afghanistan with Teatro dell’Elfo/Emilia Romagna Teatro; Il seme della tempesta with Teatro Valdoca; Fedeli d’amore with Teatro delle Albe/Ravenna Festival; Ritratto di Dora M. with Teatro dei Filodrammatici; Storia di un’amicizia with Fanny & Alexander/Ravenna Festival.

The 2018 edition’s Dopofestival also met with great success: the Romantic Garden of Palazzo Reale opened its doors to music – from rock to pop, from swing to jazz -, hosting bands and concerts. The Dopofestival proved to be an important opportunity for audience and artists to meet, as well as an occasion to spend an evening in one of the most suggestive spots in the city listening to live performances and having a drink.

NTFI worked towards the creation of a network of collaborations with institutional and non-institutional local authorities. An internship was activated in collaboration with the School of Scenography of the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples, in coordination with the Festival’s Technical Department. The students participated in training activities in the organization and preparation of the scenographic material for the shows of the XI edition.

An internship activity with the Department of Humanities – Master Program in Dramaturgy and Cinematography of the University of Naples Federico II, was designed to support the Festival Promotion department through the FESTIVAL CAMPUS From text to scene meeting, an activity aimed at promoting the festival through a debate between the programmme students and some artists present in the 2018 programme; and a webspace, integrated into the institutional site of NTFI, where the students accredited to the shows had their reviews published.

Moreover, the students of the Master programme in radio broadcasting of the Suor Orsola Benincasa University carried out an internship activity in coordination with the Promotion department of the Festival, for the creation of a radio newsroom that broadcast the 1hr long FESTIVAL CAMPUS show, inserted in the show schedule of RUN RADIO, the University’s web radio. Each episode revolved around different aspects of the XI edition: its characteristics and peculiarities; the cross-cutting themes from which the cultural project was developed; a focus on shows chosen on the basis of the target audience, that is, young university students; at least one interview with the artists of the “Workshops” and “Observatory” sections.

Thanks to the collaboration with the University of Naples L’Orientale, 52 students were involved in workshops and activities, participating in the shows, and preparing a report valid for course credits.

The relationships that had been established in 2017 with various local institutions were also expanded and deepened, in particular those with the foreign Cultural Institutes present in the territory, which were involved in various projects related to the international artistic programme and therefore the country of origin of the artists that took part in the edition. For the 2018 edition of NTFI, the following were involved: Istitut Francais, British Concil, Goethe-Institut Italien, Instituto Cervantes, Polish Institute of Rome.

As part of the 2018 edition of NTFI, a media partnership was established with Rai Radio3, which told of the functioning of the Festival’s great machine through interviews with the protagonists.

Ferrarelle was a partner of the event. Besides, the 2018 edition was created in collaboration with: Naples International Airport, Anm (Azienda Napoletana Mobilità), Metro Art Napoli, Feltrinelli, Campania Artecard, Coop Culture, Amarelli, Elite – Campania Magazine, FAI Campania, Italian Touring Club, Accogliere Ad Arte Napoli, Comicon, NapolidaVivere, Igers Napoli, Napoli Bike.

The 2018 edition was a great event that wanted to be not only accessible to everyone but to reach everyone, through wide use of advertising materials: 40 thousand pocket catalogs, 12 thousand booklet catalogs, 100 thousand brochures distributed with Repubblica’s weekly magazine “Venerdì”, 50 thousand postcards, 10 thousand leaflets with a synoptic calendar.

The interest of the media was also significant: 214 journalists attended NTFI 2018 for a total of 546 accredited media outlets (of which 65 newspapers, 20 periodicals, 12 press agencies, 398 online newspapers, 12 radios, 39 televisions). Among the TV channels and programs, we mention Canal Sur (Spain), Rai News 24 (16 news stories), Rai Tg1 (11 news stories), Rai Tg2 (8 news stories), Rai Tg3 Linea Notte (2 news stories), Rai Tg3 Chi è di scena (2 news stories), Rai Tg3  Fuori Linea (2 news stories), Canale 5 (2 news stories), Rai5 Save The Date (2 news stories), Rai 1 Applausi, TV2000 Retroscena, Sky Arte, Sky Sport 24.

The Festival also produced a documentary for Rai 5 directed by Nadia Baldi, which tells through the words of the protagonists what happens before, during, and after the staging of the shows in NTFI.

The XI edition of NTFI involved 1748 people, as well as various professionals and companies; the large community of the Festival also saw the active participation of students and interns, who contributed to its realization.

For this edition, around 180 people contributed to the realization of the festival, a number that includes collaborators, freelancers, technical and floor staff. Also for 2018, the floor staff was selected among the students of the Neapolitan theater schools, to allow young people to experience the theater from another point of view and, at the same time, receive a salary.

The artistic quality of the event was also reflected in the awarding of the Ubu Prize – considered the most important theater award in Italy – to Ermanna Montanari as Best actress or performer for the show Fedeli d’Amore; while Afghanistan: Enduring Freedom by Richard Bean, Ben Ockrent, Simon Stephens, Colin Teevan, Naomi Wallace, received the award for Best New Foreign Text or Dramaturgical Writing.

The 2018 edition of NTFI was a real success in terms of audience, with 30,880 tickets sold. The complimentary and discount tickets for young people and the disadvantaged social groups invited the public to put into practice the idea of reclaiming opportunities for cultural participation aimed at living art as a right.

Napoli Teatro Festival Italia has received the ministerial award for the three-year period 2018-2020.

Still within the artistic direction of Ruggero Cappuccio, Fondazione Campania dei Festival has produced sixteen workshops and shows of the Quartieri di Vita training and social theater festival, in the winter session of NTFI: Che sia l’ultimo compleanno di guerra (ASSOCIAZIONE MAESTRI DI STRADA ONLUS and ASSOCIAZIONE TRERROTE); Oltre i confini (ASSOCIAZIONE DERRIERE LA SCENE and COOPERATIVA SOCIALE LEUKOS); Bufaland (CULTURAL VIDEO PRODUCTION), realized in collaboration with the SPRAR (Service for the protection of refugees and asylum seekers), Community Center Ex Canapificio di Caserta and “Fondazione Migrantes” in Castel Volturno; Antigone ovvero della sporca speranza (ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE AIROTS); We trust diGiulietta!!! (MAGNIFICO VISBAAL TEATRO); La sposa prigioniera – #STUDIO2 (COMPAGNIA NEST and CERBERO TEATRO); La scena futura – Narrare ad alta voce (ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE HYPOKRITÈS TEATRO STUDIO); Macello d’Amore (COOPERATIVA SOCIALE IMMAGINARIA); Piazza Santa Lucia (ASSOCIAZIONE TEATRO COLOSIMO and MURÌCENA TEATRO); De la trasgressione, la scuola medica salernitana. La medicina dell’ascolto e le opportunità dell’accoglienza (TEATRI DI POPOLO); La cantata del vero e falso lume, tra pastori falsi e veri (THE BEGGAR’S THEATRE – IL TEATRO DEI MENDICANTI and GLI ALBERI DI CANTO TEATRO); Danze Rubate (CRISTIANA MORGANTI / IL FUNARO); Una Turandot partenopea (ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE ARTICOLART); Un’altra storia (ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE CAMERA21); Viva la vida! (ALMA MAHLER SINFONIETTA); Nisida isola di bellezza (ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE SCECUFE).