Ridotto is a space for the audience to gather. In the past, the ridotto wasn’t just a place to meet and chat: you could play pool and other games. Going to the theater wasn’t just connected with attending a performance.

At the time of my first opening, in 1808, gambling was very popular. Official documents show that a request was sent to the Police General Direction in Milan to allow to have gambling here since the first season, but the request was rejected. Before making a decision, the Police addressed the Prefect of Bergamo, who replied that he was against all forms of gambling, like many other local authorities and bodies. In 1815, gambling became illegal all through the large region that was ruled by the Austrian government at the time, including Bergamo. For theatre managers it was a hard blow, since gambling brought a lot of money. As a consequence, less funding was available for the productions in the following years.

Out of the windows there is the so called Corsarola, it’s the main street of the Upper town and it originated out of a Roman decumanus.

It’s hard to notice the Theater: Sociale doesn’t really have a façade. Or rather, the theatre hasa very simple one as there was no space to build anything grand or bulky. Also, here the audience never had a portico to leave their carriages, since the street is so narrow. They were left in a courtyard on my left side, which could be reached by Piazza Vecchia. The courtyard had access to the foyer.