Constructed entirely of oak, the Globe opened in 2003 and was financed by Silvano Toti, a wealthy patron of the Italian arts, and is now under the eye of art director Gigi Proietti. The roof of the theater is open to the elements and the interior has a capacity for an audience of 1,206. The circular seating is on different levels and balconies overlook the rectangular stage, which is surrounded by standing room for the least expensive ticket holders. The box office is on Viale Canonica and most plays are presented in Italian, with occasional productions in English. Alternatively, the theater can be viewed as part of a tour of the Villa Borghese park, which also includes the Galleria Borghese, the Pietro Canonica Museum, the Bioparco—Rome’s zoo—and the Pincio Gardens.
The Silvano Toti Globe Theatre is located on Largo Aqua Felix inside Villa Borghese and can only be reached by walking through the park. There’s car parking on Largo Picasso a few minutes’ walk away and the nearest metro station is Flaminio on line A.
The theater is not open for tours, so to view the interior, you’ll need to book tickets for afternoon or evening performances from June through October. Otherwise, the exterior of the theater can be seen by passing through the park from morning to evening.
Villa Borghese is today Rome’s third-largest public park, but the gardens were originally built in the 17th century for Cardinal Scipione Borghese as a private pleasure ground. The park extends across almost 200 acres of lawn, woods, and lakes and is home to the Galleria Borghese, National Gallery of Modern Art, Villa Giulia Etruscan collection, and Rome’s Bioparco zoo.
