Rome reopened the Teatro Valle on 16 October, returning the eighteenth-century theatre to the city sixteen years after it closed. The restoration began in March 2023, and the city invested more than 11 million euros. The building reopens as a working stage for contemporary playwriting, run by the Fondazione Teatro di Roma.

What the works covered

The Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali managed the project in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. The works were presented at a press conference attended by Mayor Roberto Gualtieri and Capitoline superintendent Claudio Parisi Presicce. The project combined conservation, structural reinforcement and new building systems. In the final months, up to 80 workers were on site every day.

The main elements were:

  • conservation of the hall, boxes, staircases and monumental parts designed by Giuseppe Valadier;
  • excavation of underground spaces below the stage for technical rooms and storage;
  • new dressing rooms with stairs and a lift for artists and technicians;
  • accessible routes, lifts and safe service spaces;
  • a water-mist fire system that needs less water and suits monumental buildings;
  • new stage systems for lighting, audio and video.

The hall was repainted and fitted with new stalls seats and box chairs.

What was found and what was kept

The restoration recovered the historic box decorations, the ceiling canvas and the proscenium arch. One discovery was a nineteenth-century decoration hidden under twentieth-century repainting. In the proscenium arch, a “Dance of the Hours” reappeared: monochrome putti on a pure gold background.

The city also kept a trace of the theatre’s recent history. Messages and slogans against discrimination were painted along the staircases by actors and theatre workers during the 2011 occupation, and they were left in place.

Who runs it and what comes next

The theatre passes to the Fondazione Teatro di Roma as a Casa della Drammaturgia Contemporanea, a place for production, writing and debate on the present. The new season opens with Francesco Piccolo’s show “La sera della prima. Sei personaggi in cerca d’autore al Teatro Valle”. The show recalls the night in 1921 when Pirandello’s play was first staged at the Valle. It runs until 18 October. “Today a long wait ends and a new season begins,” Gualtieri said.