Where a 1904 prison became Calabria’s stage
Calabria Acting School trains actors inside a building that once served the exact opposite purpose. For much of the twentieth century it was a prison. Since 2016 it has been Calabria’s first professional acting academy, and one of the few institutions in Southern Italy to offer a structured multi-year programme. Acting is treated here both as a profession and as a way to understand oneself, developing full control of voice and body, stage presence and the preparation required for film, theatre and television auditions.
It did not begin as an institution.
It began with a gap no one else was filling. A founder who had left Calabria to train as an actor returned ten years later and transformed an unused prison into a school.
Read our story →The cells became classrooms. The courtyard, a stage.
The School still lives inside the former 1904 prison, with more than 3,000 square metres devoted to training: acting rooms, a dubbing studio, a 100-seat theatre and a stone courtyard framed by the Aspromonte mountains and the Gioia Tauro plain.
Discover the campus →Four walls can only teach so much.
SRC OpenAir takes acting out of the rehearsal room and into Calabria’s streams, woods and hills, sharpening the senses, listening skills and an actor’s ability to adapt.
Discover OpenAir →SRC reaches beyond Calabria.
From Giffoni Film Festival to Kyiv’s KNUTKiT and workshops with leading directors, encounters and partnerships open new paths for students and professionals.
Explore our partnerships →
Ready to train,
or enrol your child?
Auditions for the three-year professional programme open every year.