For more than twenty years the company of the Teatro Povero of Monticchiello ( a village perched on one of the hills surrounding Pienza) stages a particularly interesting experience of life and culture.The local inhabitants, in fact, from the last week in July for almost all of August give their daily performances in the main square. The drama enacted is written directed and staged by them alone, who also create the music and scenery. During the past few years the performances "recited" in the typical Val d'Orcia dialect; have been divided in two parts, the first enacting experiences of peasant life during the first half of the 20th century, the second dramatising themes of current events. The theatrical experience of the people of Monticchiello though having had a popular or folk origin has become a significant example of "making" theatre in Italy enjoying public acclaim and critical approval.