Description
The Teatro Verdi is Brindisi's main theater, in the old town: a large modern building raised above the ruins of a Roman neighborhood, which is why it's called the "suspended theater." People come for the plays and shows on the program, but also just to see how it's built.
The theater sits above the San Pietro degli Schiavoni Archaeological Area, which can still be visited beneath the structure. In the foyer part of the floor is lit glass, and from there you look down at the Roman ruins below.
The auditorium has 995 seats in the stalls and gallery. The stage is among the largest in Italy: 25.50 meters wide, 18 deep and 20 high, with a proscenium opening of 15 by 6 meters.
The walls of the stalls are lined with cherry wood panels that help the acoustics: it's said that a whisper at center stage can be clearly heard in the last row of the gallery.
All told, the theater covers 4,500 square meters, with a volume of 40,000 cubic meters, and is fully accessible to people with disabilities. On the raised floor next to the foyer are the bar and the cloakroom.
Its history is long and troubled. In the 1960s, digging to build the new courthouse uncovered the Roman remains, and in 1967 the city decided to build the municipal theater here.
To avoid covering the excavations, architect Enrico Nespega designed a huge steel building suspended above the ruins. But construction never seemed to end: the theater was inaugurated three times, and the first two times it was declared unfit for use because of problems with its internal structures.
The final opening came on December 20, 2006, with a concert conducted by Riccardo Muti leading the Cherubini Youth Orchestra.
Its official name is Nuovo Teatro Giuseppe Verdi. It's run by a foundation of which the City of Brindisi is a founding member.
The theater sits above the San Pietro degli Schiavoni Archaeological Area, which can still be visited beneath the structure. In the foyer part of the floor is lit glass, and from there you look down at the Roman ruins below.
The auditorium has 995 seats in the stalls and gallery. The stage is among the largest in Italy: 25.50 meters wide, 18 deep and 20 high, with a proscenium opening of 15 by 6 meters.
The walls of the stalls are lined with cherry wood panels that help the acoustics: it's said that a whisper at center stage can be clearly heard in the last row of the gallery.
All told, the theater covers 4,500 square meters, with a volume of 40,000 cubic meters, and is fully accessible to people with disabilities. On the raised floor next to the foyer are the bar and the cloakroom.
Its history is long and troubled. In the 1960s, digging to build the new courthouse uncovered the Roman remains, and in 1967 the city decided to build the municipal theater here.
To avoid covering the excavations, architect Enrico Nespega designed a huge steel building suspended above the ruins. But construction never seemed to end: the theater was inaugurated three times, and the first two times it was declared unfit for use because of problems with its internal structures.
The final opening came on December 20, 2006, with a concert conducted by Riccardo Muti leading the Cherubini Youth Orchestra.
Its official name is Nuovo Teatro Giuseppe Verdi. It's run by a foundation of which the City of Brindisi is a founding member.