The Palladium in Rome's popular Garbatella district went from being an elegant local theatre in the 1920s to a concert venue-cum-nightclub with darkened interiors and sound levels in the 1980s and 90s that were the bane of nearby residents. Over the last two years it has been returned to its original state with funding from Rome's Roma Tre university and has been transformed into a so-called "cultural laboratory"; a theatre and cultural venue attached to the university. The unique, apse-like interior features yellow columns, turquoise ceilings with beams that form two Stars of David, and has walls decorated three different shades of red. The new-look theatre will be officially inaugurated on 15 Oct, when it will host "La frontire", an opera by Philippe Manoury, directed by Yoshi Oda, as part of the Romaeuropa Festival. Another recently restored Roman theatre, the Ambra Jovinelli in Rome's Esquiline district, has just begun a new season featuring some of Italy's finest actors and comedians, such as Silvio Orlando, Francesca Reggiani and Lella Costa.