An Italian Provincial theatre: repertoire, audiences, performers, management and stage equipment at Feltre’s Teatro Sociale in the Nineteenth century

In summary, the Feltre repertoire reveals tendencies which are representative for provincial Italian theatres that distinguish them from major theatres. At the same time, it could have been particular in some details:
- Minor theatres being the social centre of a whole region, had to create an interest in theatre of all strata of society rich enough to pay an entrance fee – they generally continued to provide a variety of ‘spectacles’ at least until the middle of the century. In Feltre, the taste for these theatre forms does not seem to have diminished as early as in other theatres.
- Even later on, minor theatres didn’t specialise as much in opera as some of the major ones – they continued to show spoken theatre and stayed a platform for local amateur troupes, providing a space of engagement in socio-political debates. The sources from Feltre suggest a particularly ‘European’ repertoire until 1866, whereas other theatres seem to show an earlier ‘Italianisation’ and ‘canonisation’.
The gymnastics spectacle of the Ethair troupe seems to be an exception even for the Feltre theatre – and even more so for other minor and major North Italian theatres.