About the theatre
One of Florence's most extraordinary cultural venues, Teatro Nazionale Firenze has never stopped evolving. Era after era, it has been a mirror and interpreter of its audience.
Renewed in design, it is renewed even more in the experiences it holds within. After a long silence, audiences are welcomed with a new way of making theatre: many voices, yet one harmony, a synthesis of history and the contemporary. The timeless allure of opera, prose and music meets the spectacle of new forms of storytelling, with contemporary technology deployed here as a true art form. The show extends far beyond the stage, into every space the audience inhabits, placing the spectators at its very centre because this theatre is made for them, and with them. It is a new idea of theatre. A space open to the city and to visitors from around the world, celebrating every form — ancient and modern — of theatrical entertainment. And with every show, the wonder is renewed and the sense of marvel is reborn.
Heritage
Teatro Nazionale Firenze has a fascinating history. Originally built from the merger of houses and fortified towers belonging to the Cerchi family, in the 17th century the building became the Casa dei Monellini, one of the first documented juvenile reformatory in Europe. Transformed into a theatre, it gave birth to Stenterello mask — a sharp-tongued character who captured the truest soul of the Florentine people — before opening its doors to prose dramas and opera. After serving as a cinema and lying dormant for over forty years, a long restoration project and new direction have brought Teatro Nazionale Firenze into its renaissance.
Teatro Nazionale Firenze has a fascinating history. Originally built from the merger of houses and fortified towers belonging to the Cerchi family, in the 17th century the building became the Casa dei Monellini, one of the first documented juvenile reformatory in Europe. Transformed into a theatre, it gave birth to Stenterello mask — a sharp-tongued character
who captured the truest soul of the Florentine people — before opening its doors to prose dramas and opera. After serving as a cinema and lying dormant for over forty years, a long restoration project and new direction have brought Teatro Nazionale Firenze into its renaissance.
Architecture and technology
The recent restoration by Marco Casamonti / Archea Associati has brought new light to this rare example of a miniature Italian-style theatre steps from Piazza della Signoria. The horseshoe-shaped stalls, floors, stucco work and capitals have been restored to their nineteenth-century splendour, paired with contemporary design and interiors.
The four levels now also house a café and bookshop, a lounge bar, the jazz bar, and a private events kitchen. The technology — from the ultra-high-resolution LED screen on stage to the sophisticated audio systems and monitors in the boxes, to the video mapping that extends the image across the entire theatre architecture — transforms every event into a total immersive experience. A show within the show.
