Abstract

Between 1953 and 1975, the International Festival of University Theatre was held in Parma and it quickly became a major point of reference for the world of university culture. Throughout its twenty-year history, the festival witnessed the evolution of student associations, which were initially characterised by goliard characteristics but became increasingly politically active. The University Festival was an important event within a context as difficult as that of the Cold War, found a common language in theatre and an escape from the strict constraints imposed by geopolitical alignments. Research into the festival’s complex organizational machine evidences the extensive network of political and diplomatic contacts that were necessary to put together the festival as well and highlighting the surprising vitality of this young people’s world and its profound desire for change: cultural, political and social