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Cesare Caporali Theatre - Panicale

Cesare Caporali Theatre - Panicale

The Caporali theatre rises in the heart of Panicale's historical centre and deserves a visit both for the elegance of its richly decorated internal structure and for its theatre performances. 

Indeed the theatre hosts the prose season (TSU circuit), the concerts of Panicale Music Together, the Baroque Opera, dance recitals and conferences.

The theatre’s history is rooted in the “Dramatic Society” founded in 1694 by a group of young Panicale inhabitants.

In 1786 the “Dramatic Society” converged in a new company called “Drama School”. The Drama School commissioned F. Tarducci to build a small wooden theatre that, because of its position, was called the Sun Theatre. 

In 1856, due to progressive deterioration, the theatre was restored, extended and modified and acquired a new shape. The project was assigned to the architect Giovanni Caproni who modified the structure broadening the stage, increasing the number of boxes and building over them a big gallery with a cast-iron railing.

The decorative project was assigned to Alceste Ricci from Perugia and consisted in painting the wooden structure with a bright varnish enriched by gold stucco and festoons. The painter Mariano Piervittori painted the main curtain, which portrays the Captain of Fortune Boldrino Paneri from Panicale receiving the keys of Perugia. The hall became so elegant and harmonious and was open to the public in the Carnival of 1858 with the new name of Cesare Caporali Theatre.

Restored in the 1980s, today the theatre is frequently used. 

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