Hiding In Plain Sight – Teatro dei Differenti

Teatro dei Differenti

We had seen pictures of the 18th century theatre that sits in the middle of the old town of Barga, but when we got there, the doors were locked. When we asked the tourism office how we might gain access we were told to go to city hall. Figuring there was no chance in hell they would accommodate us, we hesitated but the most they could do was say no, so there we stood, in city hall, talking our way into an old theatre. Surprisingly, it was a lot easier than expected, a few phone calls were made and before we knew it we were standing outside the theatre.

A quick tour

The caretaker led us in, gave us a quick tour and historical run down before leading the way to the stage. The Teatro dei Differenti was built in 1689 out of wood. It was knocked down around 1794 because it was considered inadequate and then rebuilt in the form that remains today. The sumptuous decor inside is the work of a Reggio Emilia painter, Francesco Fontanesi, who was scenographer for most Tuscan theatres at the time. November 1911 would see Italy’s famous poet and hometown hero, Giovanni Pascoli giving his infamous pro-Libyan war speech.
In the 60s the theatre was bought by an English couple and found a new lease on life as Opera Barga.
History lesson over, the caretaker turned on the lights.

Admiring the decor

We stood there for a while, taking pictures and admiring the decor. That’s when he told us about the painters’ little joke. The lower half of the walls are painted to look like marble but if you look closely you can see that they had a wicked sense of humour. The elite, sitting close by, watching opera and plays probably never noticed that within the painting, hiding in plain sight were faces and umm… genitalia.