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The Brancaccio is one of the most important historic theatres of the capital, situated in Via Merulana, in the Esquilino district, between the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the Colosseum and the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. Inaugurated in January 1916 with the name of Morgana Theatre, it was built behind the embankment of the gardens of the Field-Brancaccio Palace (named after Elisabeth Field, Princess Brancaccio). Various alterations were made to the theatre over the years, both to enhance the appearance of the exterior and to make the interior more functional, and in 1937, it was officially opened in its current form with the name of Brancaccio Theatre. Traditionally considered the Theatre of Rome, during its illustrious history, the Brancaccio has hosted many famous actors, such as Totò, Anna Magnani, Aldo Fabrizi and Gigi Proietti, as well as musicians of the calibre of Fabrizio De Andrè, Louis Armstrong and Jimi Hendrix.
Today the Theatre is one of the top venues in Italy for musicals, plays, music, contemporary circus and youth theatre performances, featuring artists and companies from all over the world. The Brancaccio also organises theatre workshops and theatre and dance courses for adults, children and young people, as well as professional training opportunities for actors, dancers and singers.
The work consisted of the acoustic characterisation of the current situation, with a reverberation time measurement campaign, and a subsequent feasibility study regarding the construction of a new motorised ceiling panel to replace the original fixed one, installed at the height of the dress circle in the Theatre. It will be possible to place this new ceiling panel in two different positions, to configure two different capacity scenarios.
The first scenario is configured in a way similar to the existing situation, with a capacity equal to the seats in the stalls and the dress circle, although in a slightly lower position.
The second scenario is configured with the ceiling at the top of the upper circle, i.e. above the upper circle, currently closed to the public, configuring the capacity of the theatre for a number of seats comprising the stalls and both circles.
The third scenario, chosen at the final design stage by the client and the object of the executive acoustic design project, consists of cladding the natural ceiling and the structural extradoses with exposed reinforced concrete, without the construction of any lowered ceilings.
