Teatro Luigi Rasi

This small theater was built over a hundred years ago in the church of Santa Chiara, built with the adjoining monastery by Chiara da Polenta in 1250 and abolished in 1805 with the Napoleonic edict. It 'important to remember that the church was decorated with beautiful frescoes fourteenth-century Rimini school itself. Disconnected around 1950 they are preserved in part at the National Museum of Ravenna and Bologna in part, at the laboratory of the famous restorer Ottorino Nonfarmale pending the completion of the work of recovery. In 1992 have been allocated by the Department of Culture of the Municipality of Ravenna necessary funds for the completion of the restoration work that should find a suitable location as soon as possible. After the suppression of the church and convent in 1823, are transferred to the Hospital of Santa Maria delle Croci who assumes the burden of maintenance. Then 1 'hospital administration gives the entire complex in the lease to Baron Pergami Franchina, which shall transform the church into "riding" destination that continues until 1885, then from 1847 to 1856 are held horse shows (Ravaldini 1978 p. 198). However, already in 1874 by private deed between the then mayor of Ravenna Silvio Guerrini and Baron Carlo Emilio Pergami-Belluzzi the entire building is transferred to the municipality. Meanwhile, the local Academy Filodrammatica, remained deprived of his office (the theater Bertoldi), asks for the grant of the church of Santa Chiara in order to adapt it to the theater, undertaking to pay the expenses to carry out the necessary works of adaptation and also to not change the apse. The new theater, first called Filodrammatico, is inaugurated on May 8, 1892 with a performance of the play The Member of Bombignac A. Bisson and with a monologue written for the occasion by Luigi Rasi, at that time director of the School of Acting Florence. The room is not large could accommodate 220 ​​spectators in the stalls on wooden seats while another 90 could be seated in the balcony, which consisted of a narrow central body with two lateral extensions, all supported by six columns and iron shelves. The curtain, which you do not know the subject, was painted by Alessandro Azzaroni mosaic. The Academy Filodrammatica was active in the theater from 1892 to 1919, then merged with the Company Orfeonica Ravenna operating since 1900, was born the Artistic Society Drama-Music of Ravenna with the aim to gather in fellowship lovers of music and of dramatic art and disseminate greater knowledge in this cultural sense. For the occasion, the theater was named after Luigi Rasi (1919). Under the chairmanship of Guido Franchi theater hall experienced a period of intense and diversified activities, from plays, conferences, concerts of chamber music. The company's activities continued apace until 1938 and then the theater was closed two years later will be given to the use of OND in the Province of Ravenna for twenty years. In 1943, renovations were made challenging the capacity of the room that led to 400 people. After the war very intense activity is carried out by a number of local amateur dramatic, also starts a dance school. Simultaneously, the theater continues to be the subject of restoration and maintenance improvement until 1959, when the Commission provincial supervision will require the closure for safety reasons, so that in 1962 it is necessary to proceed to the 'modernization of the entire system. The restoration and upgrading newer ones have changed. the appearance of the room making it more like a cinema than a historic theater, but the obvious defects due to the small size of the stage, not perfect acoustics, furnishings drive, do not have stifled his soul as old as Cristina says Vetrucci. In particular, the apse only tangible piece of history, the pearl of this place, fascinated many directors who landed on the stage of Rasi, sometimes they decided to change their exceptionally scene, enriching it with a backdrop rare and irreproducible memory. "(year one thousand 1992, p. 7). Managed in recent times from Ravenna Teatro this place has embarked on the road of artistic innovation and cultural presenting each year a full agenda of initiatives prose, contemporary theater, kids, dialect, theater workshop with the schools, an especially interesting entitled "The songline "dedicated to the cultures of ethnic minorities. All that remains is hoped will soon be structurally modified and made ​​more comfortable and functional for the purposes for which it was intended. (Lidia Bortolotti)