The Alfieri Theater in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana is the most important in the Serchio valley, second only, in terms of size, to the “Giglio” of Lucca. It was built in 1860, named to Vittorio Emanuele II, thanks to a group of local important peolple such as the Count Giovanni Carli and Antonio Vittoni.
The Count himself designed the structure directly inspired by the Lucca theater. Castelnuovo already had a small academic theater: a room located in the center of the town, certainly not prestigious, and not very suitable for hosting operas and melodrama.
A large piece of land was chosen for the new theater, outside the town, near the district of Santa Lucia. The building has a large atrium, a horseshoe shaped parterre, three orders of 17 boxes and the gallery. The stage was equipped with wings, backdrops and painted curtain; in the backstage in addition to the dressing rooms, there was a rich set of theatrical machines. “La straniera” by Vincenzo Bellini inaugurates the first theatrical season on the evening of August 22, 1860.
In more recent years, the theater became a cinema, then closed, until the Municipality of Castelnuovo di Garfagnana bought it from the last owners to return it, after its renovation, to its original splendor. The annual program of shows is rich and high-level and the theater has once again become the cultural aggregation center of the city.
