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TWO OLDEST THEATRES IN SPLIT by Cvito Fisković |
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The
City Hall on the National Square The first theatre in Split was situated in the most prominent location in the town, the City Hall on the National Square. The building, whose conversion into a theatre had been financed by the citizens themselves, was demolished by the authorities in 1820 due to its bad state of repair. In 1825 two citizens of Split built a wooden theatre in the yard of the old lazaretto on the seafront, which was demolished in 1845 for the same reason as the previous one: due to disrepair. The repertoire of these theatres was very varied, ranging from concerts, musical and poetry recitals to comedies and tragedies, and the most frequent guests were Italian travelling troupes most usually performing the opera buffo. The Italian artists would sometimes be joined by local amateur singers. The citizens of Split often used to perform and sing on their own, and artists from the towns of Zadar, Šibenik and Dubrovnik frequently appeared as guests performing both dramatic and musical pieces. |
