THE JEWEL THEATRES IN THE MARCHE
In the Marche, there are 250 municipalities and 100 theatres, some of them of great value even if very small.
Each of them is unique thanks to its painted vaults, polished decorations and elegant colonnades; for this reason, they are called ‘jewel theatres”.
Between 700 and 800 d.C. almost every municipality, even the smallest ones, had their own theatres and it’s easy to understand the current presence of so many historic theatres in the Marche.
THE BIGGEST AND THE SMALLEST THEATRE
The biggest theatre is Teatro della Fortuna of Fano with its 900 seats; at the opposite side we find the smallest one, Teatro Flora of Penna San Giovanni with 99 seats, that is one-tenth the other.
The precious musical assets we received from the biggest composers born in le Marche and now famous all over the world, like Rossini, Pergolesi and Spontini, is strictly connected to the social role of these cultural places.
ROMAN THEATRES IN THE MARCHE REGION
A theatre typology of rare beauty is that of roman theatres.
In the Roman era, there were 35 municipalities in the area that today corresponds with the Marche region. People think that each of them had a theatre or amphitheatre.
Today only a few of them are survivors; some are used as scenery both for ancient and modern theatre performances, such as the one of Urbisaglia (MC).
A special tribute goes to Arena Sferisterio, located in the historical centre of Macerata, once destined to the ancient game of ‘Pallone col bracciale’ and only later changed into open-air operas and concerts location.
In fact, even if the building was designed in 1823, the first opera, Aida of Verdi, was represented only in 1921.