Teatro Cesare Caporali

Caporali Theater The Teatro Caporali is inside the historical center of the burgh of Panicale. It deserves a visit for both the elegance of its internal structure, which is richly decorated, and the quality of performances held on its venue. In fact, the Theater hosts the Prose Season (TSU Circuit), Music Concerts “Insieme Panicale”, The Baroque Opera, Ballet performances and numerous Conventions. The history of the Theater has its roots in the “Società Filodrammatica”, an association founded in 1694 by a group of youth from Panicale. In 1786 the “Società Filodrammatica” fused with a new society, the “Accademia Teatrale”. This Academy commissioned the construction of a small wooden theater to F. Tarducci, and this was called “Teatro del Sole”—theater of the sun—due to its location. In 1856, because of its progressive degradation, the Theater was enlarged, modified, and given a new shape. The restoration plan was entrusted to the architect Giovanni Caproni, who modified the structure by widening the stage, increasing the number of the boxes and building a beautiful loggia with a casted iron rail over them. The Perugian Alceste Ricci was commissioned for its decoration. The design foresaw the painting of its wooden structure with a light color and the application of gilded stucco decorations and festoons. The painter Mariano Piervittori, instead, painted the main curtain of the stage, the one depicting the Captain of Venture Boldrino Panieri di Panicale Receiving the Keys of Perugia. The audience hall became elegant and harmonious, and was opened to the public during the Carnival period of 1858, with its new denomination Teatro Cesare Caporali. Restored in the 1980s, the theater has come back to its full activity.