Herberia Theatre

Municipal theatre of the 20th century, late Art Nouveau style.

Address and contacts

Piazza Gramsci, 1/B - 42048 Rubiera
Phone 0039 0522 622230
Fax 0039 0522 628978

Municipality of Rubiera

How to get there

Rubiera

By car
Rubiera is 12 km from the Reggio Emilia exit of the A1 motorway – National Road 9, Via Emilia –, is located on the Via Emilia and has a Train Station.
The Palazzo Civico is in the Town historical center

By train
From the Reggio Emilia railway station, Trenitalia regional train

By bus
Bus n. 2 for Rubiera

Historical notes

The building was designed during the 1920s on the initiative of Professor Umberto Tirelli by the engineer Antonio Panizzi and the architect Italo Costa of Reggio Emilia.

Inaugurated on the evening of 7th January 1926, it was an autonomous building standing next to the ancient fort on the line of the city walls on a piece of public property sold to the municipal administration for a token price of one lira. A typical example of late Art Nouveau style, it has a projecting part with wide balcony which, on the ground floor, houses the foyer and two rooms used since the beginning as the cloak room and ticket office. The square plan stalls extended in the two side corridors marked by columns supporting the first gallery. The theatre had an orchestra pit, proscenium, and Italian-style stage in wood, and the basement dressing rooms were situated in the understage area. Access to the first and second galleries was by means of two stairways formed in the space between the foyer and the stalls. Adapted for use as a cinema in the 1950s, it underwent numerous changes such as the replacement of the original ceiling with eraclit panels. It remained unused for more than fifteen years and then, after long adversities, was finally purchased by the Municipality of Rubiera and subsequently restored, returned to its original function. Inaugurated on 18th December 1998, the theatre now embodies a balance between the historical-architectural heritage and the needs of contemporary performances. Modern technology has made it possible to find this balance, creating a space that offers innumerable staging possibilities, including the traditional “Italian-style theatre” with orchestra pit, the central layout style, and experimental theatre with the stalls level dedicated to stage settings.