For her next act… Dior’s Maria Grazia Chiuri is reopening an abandoned theatre

Good things come in small packages, and in the case of Rome’s Teatro della Cometa – a 233-seat theatre with cherry-red velveteen chairs and pretty gold-edged balconies – an exquisite one. The venue, designed in the postwar years for the Italian arts patron Countess Anna Laetitia Pecci-Blunt (known as Mimì), is now in the hands of Maria Grazia Chiuri, 61, who has been creative director of Dior’s womenswear since 2016. She and her 28-year-old daughter Rachele Regini are restoring it for a new era, with the aim of bringing back the daring and magic that the flamboyant Pecci-Blunt first conceived. It’s a passion project that is very close to home – Chiuri was born, raised and educated in Rome and has been besotted with the building for years. 

“When we bought the Teatro [in 2020], it was super-shabby and unfunctional but I think we’ve found a good balance between maintaining the spirit, and creating a flexible, efficient space for different kinds of performances,” she says of the sensitive and highly technical restoration that has taken deep pockets and four years to complete. “If you love a place, you have to maintain the energy and the essence.”

The duo, both wearing tailored black trousers and flats, seated centre stage on a rotating podium, look out on to an imaginary audience and up to the newly installed director’s box with a mixture of giddy pride and trepidation. They are determined to preserve the soul of the place, as they point out the restored floorboards that were damaged in a fire in the late 1960s, and detail the diverse programming spanning plays, readings, recitals and performances that they envision. The gleaming metal star symbols that appear as door handles, light fittings and at the ends of the handrails throughout the 1,100sq m venue signal new beginnings.

Such grand schemes take commitment and patience. Chiuri, not shy of hard work, has dedicated her life to fashion, holding key positions at Fendi, Valentino and currently Dior. Regini, who studied art history at Goldsmiths University, followed by an MA in gender, media and culture, began her career in Rome’s museums before Chiuri tapped her as cultural adviser at Dior. At the theatre, their skills and talents also dovetail, with Regini bringing a younger generation’s voice to the table. Rather than appoint one artistic director, Teatro della Cometa is working with a series of curators in different genres.  

Its grand reopening at the end of this month – coinciding with Dior’s cruise show – will be accompanied by an exhibition dedicated to its history from 1958 to 1969 and to its founder (who died in 1971), alongside a series of tableaux vivants, which reimagine scenes from Pecci-Blunt’s extraordinary life and oeuvre. Guests will meander through scenes directed by Lorenzo Salveti and staged by Italian artist Pietro Ruffo, with a musical score by Paolo Buonvino and costumes by the critic and curator Maria Luisa Frisa. It will be a highly collaborative affair drawing in established and emerging talents. 

“Mimì was an incredible woman,” says Chiuri. “I am fascinated by her history. She was so in love with the arts. What’s still unknown is her archive. She kept visual and written documents of every single thing she was doing.” Working with expert archivists, she has only just begun to scratch the surface of Pecci-Blunt’s interests. “There are thousands of photo albums, graphic posters, newspaper and magazine clips, and photos of Mimì with Salvador Dalí, with Audrey Hepburn, everyone,” adds Regini.

Pecci-Blunt was the daughter of Count Camillo Pecci (nephew of Pope Leo XIII) and his wife, Marchioness Silvia Bueno y Garzón. She designed her own life, befriending artists, marrying a wealthy American (Cecil Blumenthal) and devoting herself to the arts. Her circle rivalled those of better-known female art patrons including Peggy Guggenheim and Elsa Schiaparelli.

Did Chiuri ever imagine opening a theatre? ‘Never. Never. never!’

Teatro della Cometa was first conceived as Pecci-Blunt’s own private theatre: a jewel-like addition to their elegant 16th-century palazzo on Piazza d’Aracoeli. Here, she invited artists, actors, musicians and writers to develop and perform avant-garde works by playwrights including Beckett, Ionesco and Kopit for a constantly evolving audience of high society, creatives and local Romans. It opened to the public in 1958 and became the toast of the city before a fire led to its shuttering in 1969. Not that it was all encores and roses. As Chiuri points out, two world wars and the rise of fascism in Italy radically unsettled their lives. The arts provided a point of subversive exploration as well as escape. “Living even a fraction of her life would be super-interesting. No one lives like that any more,” says Regini.

The seeds behind Chiuri’s investment were planted many years ago. She had long been enamoured of Pecci-Blunt’s residence situated at the foot of Capitoline Hill in the heart of ancient Rome, and rented part of the building for her 50th birthday celebrations. “There was an attraction that I couldn’t explain,” says Chiuri. Two years later in 2016 she was appointed at Dior and she moved to Paris.

Teatro della Cometa, meanwhile, had a second life after the fire, from the 1980s onwards, but with limited funding it gradually fell into disrepair, before Covid led to its closure and Chiuri stepped in to buy it. Had she ever imagined owning a theatre? “Never. Never. Never!” she laughs, throwing up her hands. Regini thinks destiny played a hand. “You fell in love with Mimì’s house long before you actually bought the teatro. It’s been 20 years in the making – meant to be!”

Pragmatism also played a part. “I was worried that someone might turn it into something completely different like a supermarket or a nightclub and destroy it completely,” explains Chiuri. Regini nods. “Ultimately, I think we were really happy to take on this project as a family because we wanted to do something together that was creative, artistic and for the city of Rome,” she says. Rome has few experimental venues. “We embarked on this journey together,” says Regini. “I remember us asking, ‘Are we sure we are going to do this? Are we in for this?’ Because it’s not short term, it’s a lifetime.” 

When Chiuri and Regini got to work recruiting an architect, their number-one choice was Fabio Tudisco, who first joined the theatre in the mid-’80s as a stagehand and technician. He knows the space intimately, and its peculiar history. “Mimì bought this building in 1937, but at the time they were living in New York, having fled Europe because her husband was Jewish. They commissioned the in-house engineer to create a theatre but returned after the second world war to find a cinema!” says Tudisco. Pecci-Blunt and her husband then contracted acclaimed architect and interior designer Tomaso Buzzi to transform the cinema into a theatre. Buzzi realised a delightful space complete with a swooping double staircase, two balcony tiers and gleaming metal light fixtures inspired by the comet in Pecci-Blunt’s family heraldry. Chiuri has had the chandeliers restored by specialist Open Space, commissioned new comet lights from Viabizzuno and introduced medallion-backed salon sofas from Italian designer Marta Sala.  

The theatre includes movable seating, a newly engineered revolving podium stage, state-of-the-art lighting rigs and an orchestra pit. Tudisco proudly demonstrates the hydraulic system. “The idea was to create a functioning space for the people who work here and also a highly adaptable place where you can use different aspects of it,” says Chiuri. (An all-day café-bar will also be open to non-ticket holders.) 

With 35 million tourists and pilgrims expected to visit Rome this year, the city is showing off its best across culture, the devotional, gastronomy and hospitality. And fashion is playing its part: Rome-born Fendi celebrates its 100th year, and Chiuri’s cruise collection for Dior is showcased in the city this coming week. Teatro della Cometa, for its part, proposes a new delight, its small scale and experimental offering contrasting brilliantly with the monumentality of the Eternal City.