Rome names Globe Theatre after Gigi Proietti.

Rome’s annual Shakespearean festival at the city's Globe Theatre in the heart of Villa Borghese returns for its 18th edition from 30 June until 10 October.

The 2021 festival - staged in the Italian language - begins with Romeo and Juliet (30 June-25 July) in a re-run of the production conducted by the late Gigi Proietti, the popular Roman actor and comedian who served as the artistic director of the festival every year since it launched 18 years ago.

Among other shows to look forward to in the 2021 season are Richard III (various dates from 10 July to 3 Oct); Twelfth Night (28 July-8 Aug); A Midsummer Night's Dream (10-15 Aug); Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor (17 Sept-3 Oct); Faust (7, 8 Sept) and Love's Labour's Lost (7-10 Aug).

During the festival's launch in early June, Rome mayor Virginia Raggi announced that the Globe Theatre had been renamed after Gigi Proietti, who died in the capital last November on his 80th birthday.

• Rome renames Globe Theatre after Gigi Proietti

The renaming decision was taken in collaboration with the Silvano Toti Foundation, which financed the theatre's construction in 2003, and the building is now called the 'Gigi Proietti Globe Theatre Silvano Toti.'

Rome’s Globe Theatre is a full-scale timber reproduction of Shakespeare’s Globe, copied from the original oak and thatch designs, and almost identical to the one that stands on London’s South Bank.

Built in just three months, the project was the result of an idea by Proietti. For programme and booking details, see the Globe website.