Teatri di Verzura : Hedge Theatres in Baroque Lucca

This article examines the origins of the teatri di verzura or hedge theatres, the earliest examples of whivh appear in the gardens of Lucca. The exact reason for their construction is uncertain and only the scantiest of records exist to suggest how they were used. Howeve, an examination of the wider cultural life of Lucca itself suggests that these theatres were some of the earliest to be built for use as performance spaces for literary academies, pre-dating the more famous spaces of the Arcadian academy in Rome by several decades.