Teatro Comunale Giacomo Leopardi

San Ginesio's Giacomo Leopardi Municipal Theatre occupies the upper floor of a brick palace on Piazza Alberico Gentili. Its horseshoe auditorium has two tiers of boxes and a gallery, with gilded decoration, a painted curtain by Enrico Andreani and a chandelier lowered by a winch.

Why it matters

The theatre grew out of a civic decision to rebuild the Palazzo Defensorale and add a performance hall. After the palace was planned in 1863, the council resolved in 1874 to create a theatre on its upper floor. The house opened in 1877 and became part of the town's cultural life.

What to notice

The auditorium is set at an angle to the palace and has two orders of boxes and a gallery. Gilded ornament highlights its mouldings and capitals. Enrico Andreani's curtain depicts Piazza Alberico Gentili, turning the town square into the theatre's stage image. A winch lowers the chandelier into the hall.

Context and history

Engineer Dionisio Frapiccini designed the theatre, with decoration and furnishings by Pietro Giovanetti. The Società dei Palchettisti adopted its rules in February 1877, and the theatre opened on 18 August with Vincenzo Bruti's opera Addina ovvero Le nozze in Pasquella. The dedication to Giacomo Leopardi appears in documents from about 1903. After restoration, the theatre reopened in 2005; it was damaged again in the 2016 earthquake.