Until now, we have asked Jon—as the world’s foremost reconstruction architect—to focus on the original Teatro San Cassiano of 1637, but as we now start to think of the wider complex and how we deliver a truly public theatre it is clear that he is the  ideal person to take this forward.

Our founder and CEO, Paul Atkin, announced “We have long said that for the Teatro San Cassiano to be relevant in the twenty-first century, we need not only to reconstruct the original Seicento theatre, but also to reimagine what “public opera” should mean today. In every respect, we want the San Cassiano to be a Venetian theatre, open all hours possible and always accessible to everyone. We have an obligation to be good neighbours, to become part of the daily life of our community, even when we are not staging HIP Baroque opera. People should be able to visit at will, have a coffee, take a look at the theatre, see us at work, enjoy our rehearsals, enjoy our history and above all feel that it is their theatre. Jon brings with him the full experience of achieving this at both the Shakespeare’s Globe and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in London. Once one has set out these goals and then sought to identify the best architect in the world to deliver them, then in my view the answer could only be Jon.”

Jon Greenfield added “Re-imagining and re-creating key historic performance spaces is a passion of mine. To be involved now with the place where the first public performances of opera took place, in the magnificent city of Venice, is an honour and an inspiration. We will discover many wonderful things.”

Of course, it’s no surprise that Jon comes so highly recommended. Indeed, we owe a huge debt of thanks to Neil Constable, our consigliere and Chief Executive of Shakespeare’s Globe, who made the original introduction, and whose support for our project has been an inspiration. You can find out more about Jon here.

A GLOBAL VENICE – THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

But this appointment goes far beyond Jon’s contribution. From the outset this project has been about working with the best. Our first reference is always to Venice and to the exceptional Venetian talent at our disposal; but to maximise this font, we also need to take a global view, to show the world that Venice can attract and work with the best.

This has very much been our model when assembling our architect and build team, as seen here at our conference held during our co-production with Ondřej Macek and the Castle Theatre for the modern-day premiere of Antonio Gianettini’s L’ingresso alla gioventù di Claudio Nerone (Modena, 1692 and Český Krumlov, 2018). As a consequence we now have a brilliant Venetian team led by Eugenio Tranquilli (Equilibri Srl – Project Coordinator) with Giovanni Rubin de Cervin Albrizzi (Studio GRCA – Venice Architect), and Roberta Pellegriti (Studio Associato di Architettura Fabio e Roberta Pellegriti – Research Architect) who give us unparalleled Venetian knowledge and expertise which we then blend with world’s best historic theatre expertise of Jon Greenfield (Hamson Barron Smith – theatre reconstruction), Dr Pavel Slavko (National Heritage Institute, Český Krumlov – stage reconstruction), Professor Martin White (University of Bristol – historic lighting and theatre practice), and Peter McCurdy (McCurdy & Co – historical builder). In short, we have the team that built Shakespeare’s Globe and the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse with the insight and guidance of the man who restored the Baroque theatre at Český Krumlov. This is the best of Venice working with the best in the world. This is the level we want to set for the Teatro San Cassiano of 1637. We believe Venice deserves nothing less.

Finally, if you find this interesting and if you feel you can support the project, then please take a look at our Support us page and you too can write your name into opera history.

For a full list of our investment in Venice see here