New Riga Theater's renovated building is both beautiful and functional - Hermanis

RIGA - The renovated building of New Riga Theater is both beautiful and functional, the theater's artistic director Alvis Hermanis said at a ceremony marking the reopening of the theater on Thursday.

There were many ups and downs during the implementation of the renovation project, but today all this is a thing of the past, and the main thing is the result that has been achieved, said Hermanis, adding that he was very grateful to taxpayers who financed the project. New Riga Theater however does not quite consider this as a gift, as over the past thirty years the theatre has done important work for society, both working in Latvia and as ambassadors for Latvia abroad.

"I have to say that the last push for the renovation project came from our audiences. We, the artists, were used to this house, we loved it. We would have been ready to work in that old, dilapidated building for the rest of our lives, but it was the safety and comfort of the audience that made it necessary to launch renovation of the building. Now I see that we all will benefit from it," said Hermanis.

He also thanked architect Zaiga Gaile, pointing out that the renovated building was a work of art. New Riga Theater will start its new season on March 19, while tickets will go on sale on Friday, March 1, said Hermanis.

On the other hand, Gaile wished everyone involved resilience. She reminded that the building had survived two world wars. A time a bloody war is being fought and the Occupation Museum is attacked with Molotov cocktails, it is important to understand how serious this all is and how careful one must be not to get the country entangled in such provocations, said Gaile.

Today marks the conclusion of years of work to ensure that New Riga Theater can return to its historic home, adapted to today's needs while respecting the building's history, said Culture Minister Agnese Logina (Progressives). She called on New Riga Theater to be an inspiration for the people, to make society ever smarter, more intelligent, more empathetic and more inclusive.

As state real estate management company Valsts Nekustamie Ipasumi informed LETA, the building at 25 Lacplesa Street in Riga, designed by Edmund von Trompowsky, was built in the early 20th century to house Latvian Craftsmen Society.

In 1902, New Riga Latvian Theater moved into the building. During the past 122 years, six theater groups have worked in the building.

As reported, work on the New Riga Theater reconstruction project, developed by architect Gaile, commenced in 2018 and the actual reconstruction got under way 2020. General partnership SBSC was hired to carry out the project for EUR 32.4 million.

After the reconstruction, the theater's Great Hall has 322 seats in the auditorium and 166 seats in the balcony. The large black box hall has 230 seats and the small black box hall 100 seats.