The Ridotto of the Municipal Theater is a set of rooms that was immediately used as a meeting place parallel to theatrical activities. It consists of a Sala Grande, four additional rooms and the drawing room of Cardinal Legate Scipione Borghese, the man who in 1773 agreed to the construction of the theater after numerous requests from the townspeople. Initially the Ridotto housed the Society of the Noble Lords’ Casino, was separate from the theater and was accessed by the marble staircase adjacent to the Foschini Rotunda. After a few years, the Signori Nobili decided to create a connection with the theater hall to facilitate access to the boxes, some of which they owned. Later, the Ridotto housed the Union Circle. Even today the rooms, with their fine 19th-century decorations, are used as venues for events, lectures, chamber concerts, and literary prizes.
