Patrimonio culturale dell'Emilia-Romagna

The 1765 "Decima granducale" land tax registry (Florence Historical Archives) records the existence, in that year, of a theater located in San Piero "with a stage for performances, and understage, and a main floor for the audience, with props and a courtyard". It was owned by an academy which, thanks to an unpublished local poem that dates back to 1704, we know was called Accademia degli Ardenti: the only evidence of the existence of this private property thus comes from the taxes that it paid each year to the Florence treasury. Thanks to street maps from 1785 (Municipal Historical Archives) we know that it was located in what was then called Via della Posta, now Via del Teatro. Repetti, in his Geographical, physical, and historical dictionary of Tuscany, published in Florence (1833-1843), mentions it under the heading "San Piero in Bagno", as does Mini.
Little or nothing is known about the activities of the Accademia degli Ardenti: from Girolamo Maria Volpini’s unpublished poem, La Sampieraide (1704) – which has recently been discovered and studied (Marcuccini, 1983 and Greggi, 1991)- we only learn that it was founded by Agostino Fabbri who staged his plays there.
In 1886 the Theater was owned by the Circolo Popolare Sampierano, who had restored it a short time previously "both for esthetic reasons and for ensuring safety and stability": in particular "the gallery than ran along the beginning of the main floor was completely demolished and replaced with a sturdier concrete two-order gallery, the ceiling was re-built and the roof partly restored; [...] the stage, main floor, and gallery are lit by petroleum lamps and stearic candles". Another document from 1897 states that the "balcony or gallery" is divided into "two floors; the first floor is supported by 4 small stone columns, upon which the frame for the balcony’s floor rests”; the balcony is lit by two windows.
In March 1900, the Società di mutuo soccorso tra gli operai ed artigiani di S. Piero, a local mutual aid society for workers and artisans founded in 1886 and among the most active in the Rocca San Casciano area, purchased the theater from the last remaining members of the academy, which included the noblewoman Teresa Spighi Rivalta.
The archives of the mutual aid society, which have recently been partly recovered, provide some information, albeit partial. We know that the custodian’s residence was annexed to the theater, and that the theater itself, in spite of previous restorations, was not in good condition, and additionally it had been bequeathed to the Parish of San Piero. The first restoration efforts ended in early 1901: the roof was mended, the building was re-plastered, the ashlars of the doors and windows were replaced along with the frames and inner doors. In 1904, the theater was closed once again in order to perform additional renovations mandated by the vigilance commission on public buildings, which only granted permission for “private dances” for Carnival 2005, the final commission report not being ready yet. That same year, a report by the vigilance commission stated that “the building in question is not a true Theater, but rather a theater hall used for performances, free of furnishings, curtains, furniture, and stage props”. In contrast with a 1904 report, the commission maintained that "the gallery running alongside the main floor" was quite safe since it was "made with solid material and supported by sturdy stone columns and two walls that ensure its full stability”. Furthermore, the "proscenium was completely redone in concrete, making the hall wider and opening two doors which, thanks to lateral staircases, create an easy and direct link between the stage and the main floor”. The building did not have any illumination while waiting for the electrical system to be installed.
In 1907, two plaques with the inscriptions “Teatro Garibaldi” and “Società Operaia” were placed next to the theater’s two entrances on Via Cavour; the plaques were commissioned to the Arezzo-based firm Poerio Castellucci. The theater – named after Garibaldi, the association’s honorary president – immediately began to host plays and performances: on 18 September 1903 there was a “cinematograph performance”; the marionette player Bruto Pedua made extended stays several times (1907 and 1914), as did Santa Sofia’s “Arte e Diletto” Company and Romeo Montanari, a marionette player from Bologna. The theater hosted minor performances by local troupes and individual actors putting on plays by “authors writing in Italian and dialect" (perhaps, these performances testify to the reduced capacity of the stage and main floor).
Thus, the most important activities, which earned a significant income for the Società Operaia, were dances, carnival celebrations, performances by the local philharmonic orchestras, bingo games, and school talent shows.
The 1918 earthquakes, which severely damaged the town, reduced the theater to “its walls, which miraculously remained standing". After initial discouragement, when plans were afoot to transform these walls into public housing, in 1920 a commission was formed and charged with finding the necessary funds for re-building the theater: voluntary donations, funds from the Royal Agency for Civil Engineering earmarked for earthquake recovery activities, and bingo games. In 1923, the Cooperativa di Lavoro [Workers’ Cooperative], an offshoot of the Società Operaia, completed the re-building work. There are no documents regarding the internal structure of the new buildings: some elderly citizens, however, remember the stage and main floors, and two orders of boxes arranged in a semi-circular or horseshoe shape. The lower order, which was larger and longer, began almost right next to the stage, and its central portion was supported by cast iron columns coated with chalk or another similar material. The second order of boxes, pompously known as “the gallery”, rested upon the lower order and was supported by similar columns, but it was smaller and shorter. Both orders were open and bordered by an elaborately-wrought iron or cast iron railing.
The few documents that have been found regarding work performed from 1923 to 1926 mention some decorations that embellished the small theater: "Giuseppe Fattini & Co.. – Florentine painters and decorators", a company belonging to a fellow townsman living in Conegliano, was contacted to make “a stucco image of Garibaldi held aloft by winged victories, a symbol of art and victory, to be placed above the proscenium”. The sketch of the project was commissioned to Bruno Mazzoni of Forlì, but it came to naught, perhaps due to financial reasons. Subsequently, Giuseppe Zaghi of the Modigliana “School of applied arts” was entrusted with making “chalk decorations and molds". An odd fact regards the painter Armando Spadini, who often came to S. Piero where he had married Pasqualina Cervone: in the last years of his life (he died 1925) he painted, using a broom, a backdrop for a performance by the Filodrammatica.
After these restoration efforts, the theater (200 seats, buffet, and cloakroom) definitively took off: now, theater troupes and companies from throughout Italy sent proposals for performances and repertoires; these documents, which are still available today, testify to the significant extent of theater activities (for example, Vittorio Fanelli’s Italian song and prose troupe, from Ozzano Taro, Parma, came numerous times with a pianist, stage whisper, machinist, and props specialist, and with a wide repertoire of songs, canzonettas, opera arias, duets, and comedies). The Compagnia Drammatica della Città di Firenze, A. Mazzetti’s Compagnia Drammatica del Teatro Veneto, the Filodrammatica Ermete Novelli from Cesena, the Prima Compagnia Italiana di Prosa D'Origlia - Palmi, the State Drama Company directed by Armando Patroni, and others offered a classic repertoire of folk dramas and costume comedies. In 1923, Spallicci brought his folk singers, and some remember a performance by Totò.
From the early 1930’s, the cinematograph, which had been limited to sporadic appearances earlier, took center stage: this is documented by the great number of rental contracts for films from the Istituto Luce, Nova-film, Metro Goldwyn Mayer (whose slogan was "More stars than there are in heaven "), bordereaus, and a ledger labeled “cinema management”. A small musical street band would announce cinema performances and invite passerby to attend. In 1939, Florence’s "Bettandi & Baiocchi" company installed a new projector.
The theater hosted conferences, debates, gatherings, and performances. Other information on the theater and its activities between 1926 and the immediate post-war period could be drawn from the myriad articles written by Umberto Console, the local correspondent for several newspapers and magazines.
In 1953, in part due to the disbanding of the Società Operaia, the theater was re-structured in its current form: the two orders of boxes were demolished and replaced with a concrete gallery. The theater was granted to outside management through a multi-year concession, and would be used mostly as a cinema until its final closure.
The building, which long remained abandoned, dilapidated, and crumbling, was donated by the last members of the Società Operaia to the Municipality of Bagno di Romagna, which began restoration efforts in 1998. These efforts, which ended in February 2001, thanks in part to contributions from the Foreste Casentinesi, Monte Falterona and Campigna National Park, Romagna Acque S.p.a, and the European Community, succeeded in giving back to the local population a versatile, polivalent hall featuring a stage and accessory room that can host concerts, prose performances, film screenings, and conferences.
Unfortunately, the nearby Teatro dei Ravviati in Bagno di Romagna, which dated back to the 18th century, is no longer standing. Located near the Sant’Agnese thermal baths, it was founded by some wealthy local landowners from the Accademia dei Ravviati, and documents attest to its existence prior to 1774. It was completely re-done in the mid-1880’s, after which its theater activities were quite lively, thanks in part to the renowned thermal baths nearby. In 1963, after being ceded to the thermal baths, it was demolished in order to allow for the baths to be expanded, in spite of the fact that the competent authorities had designated it as an artistic and environmental landmark.
(Giuliano Marcuccini / Lidia Bortolotti)