UNION THEATER (Teatro Unione)

HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION
The theater is built on the North side of the ancient San Marco Square (now Verdi Square) above the stone volcanic ground, and bordered to the West by the Urcionio stream.The building has a neoclassical style, presenting a wide façade in two orders (The Doric and the Ionic) with large windows topped by a “loft”, and enclosed by a large tympanum. The birth of the theater was linked to the desire of the “Society of Palchettisti”, later called “Society of the Union”, formed by a group of citizens who wanted to create a theatrical space other than the one that already exsisted (Teatro del Genio), which was in poor condition. The projects were first presented by Engineer Federici and the Architect Bonagente but the members of the Society were not convinced. It was decided to make a public competition which included the parameters that they had to stay within to complete the project. Virginio Vespignani won the competition, who was formerly the author of the Orvieto Civic Theater. The work started in November 1846, finishing only in 1855. On November 4th of the same year, the theater opened with the performance of Rigoletto. Later the candle lighting improved the appearance of the living room, substituted in 1855 with gas lights, and completing the decoration of the ceiling, thanks to the work of Somoggia and Dal Pane from Bologna, and from the plaster given to Giuliano Corsini from Urbino. The chandelier, designed by the same Vespignani, was made from the Boni and Guerrini Company of Ancona, with materials imported from Paris. The theater has a rectangular hall with a semicircular horseshoe, curved walls, and four platforms: the gods, the gallery, and the stage. Daniele Ferretti was the creator of the mechanism of the stage, equipped with the magnificent curtain painted by Pietro Gagliardi with the representation of great poets and Italian musicians that emerged at the Temple of Glory. Its proportions had been studied according to lyric operas that included large sets, which were big enough for people to think that the actual emergency exit at the back of the stage was used to introduce the carriages and the horses for certain performances. Damaged from the bombings that hit the city from 1943-1944, the building was sold by the Society of Palchettisti to the City Hall. In a document from 1950 the Roman engineer Domenico Smargiassi praised the stonework architecture instead of the wooden structures made by Vespignani, which allowed the structure to be saved from the bombings. Today the only parts that are conserved from the structure are the original platforms and part of the façade. The ceiling that we see today is the work of a painter named Angelo Canevari from Viterbo, while Felice Ludovisi was commissioned to design the paintings on the ceiling of the entrance hall and the ticket booth. The medallions on the ceiling are works of the painter Badaloni. The building can hold up to 660 people in its seats, 270 of which are on the floor and the rest are in the four platforms.

TEATRO DELL’UNIONE
Traduzione di Carla Pakenas, University of Iowa, studentessa iscritta al programma USAC presso l’Università degli Studi della Tuscia.