The Latvian National Theatre () is one of the leading professional

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

s in

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. The building is in the

eclectic style Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact t ...

and is an architectural and artistic monument. The country of Latvia was proclaimed in this building in the year 1918. On 23 February 2002, the theatre celebrated its 100th anniversary. The director of National Theatre of Latvia since 2006 has been Ojārs Rubenis.

History

In 1897

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

’s city council decided that it was not enough to have just one theatre in Riga. Riga’s first theatre was the German Theatre, currently the

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

. A competition was held to choose the design of the new building. The Augusts Reinbergs project "Dum spiro, spero" ("While I breathe, I hope") won and construction began, mainly funded by local Russian merchants and some nobility. The theatre was opened to the public on 14 September 1902 as Riga's Second (Russian) theatre (''Rīgas 2. pilsētas (krievu) teātris'') and held both theatre and opera performances. Although this was Russian language theatre, by 1917 Riga Latvian Society was renting the premises to hold plays in Latvian. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the theatre was evacuated, but by 1918 it was already back in business, and on 15 October staged

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's '' The Flying Dutchman''. Just over a month later,

declared its independence, with the declaration being read from the theatre's stage. The only remaining photograph from this historic event was taken in the theatre's main hall. In 1919, during a brief period of

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

rule, the makeshift government named it the Workers’ Theatre (''Strādnieku teātris''), but it became the Latvian National Theatre soon after and on 30 November the official opening took place with a staging of

Rūdolfs Blaumanis Kārlis Rūdolfs Leonīds Blaumanis (1 January 1863 – 4 September 1908) was a Latvian writer, journalist and playwright. He is a renowned writer in Latvian history and a master of Literary realism, realism. The building of a flat in Riga that ...

"Ugunī" ("In Fire"). The creative program was authored by Jānis Akurāters, a Latvian writer, then head of the Art department of the Ministry of Education. After the

Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 The Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 refers to the military occupation of the Republic of Latvia by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany and its Secret Additional Protocol signed i ...

, the name of the theatre was deemed too nationalistic, so it was renamed to Riga's Dramatic Theatre (''Rīgas Drāmas teātris''), only to restore the previous name in 1988, 3 years before Latvia regained its independence. The current managing director of the theatre is Ojārs Rubenis and the artistic director is Edmunds Freibergs

Mission

The mission of Latvia's National Theatre is to be the centre of national

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and art with the goal of introducing the art of theatre and current events in culture, through national values, to an even larger part of society. The National Theatre's vision for the future is to theatrically concentrate theatre's, art's and culture's most valuable pieces, by regularly introducing Latvian classics, original work, foreign theatre experience and current events to the viewer. There are also plans to include the most interesting and the most talented professionals, continue the development of theatre as an art form, as well as strengthen the collaboration between theatres and other cultural organizations. The guidelines for the National Theatre's development ensure the chance for the viewer to be introduced to all the events happening in the life of theatre in Latvia and with the most valuable foreign plays, as well as an opportunity to be a part of some of the best of the National Theatre's plays that are in the international circle.

Location

The Latvian National Theatre is situated in the centre of Latvia's capital city

, on the bank of the Riga Canal. Located just outside the Old Town, it stands in a park where the Citadel used to be.

Layout

The building is a combination of style; the facade has both eclectic and

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

features as well as elements of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

, which was extremely popular in Riga at the time. The interior is very functional, but in the various ornaments, you can find elements of

classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthe ...

. There are three halls in the theatre: the Great Hall (with 750 seats), the Actors Hall (with, depending on the play, 50–90 seats), and the LMT New Hall (with, depending on the play, 60–120 seats). Some seasons there is a fourth hall, "The Horror Bus", where a play by that name is held for children.

Actors

There are 49 actors, 23 freelance actors and 17 directors in the group.

Theatre group

* Ainārs Ančevskis * Kaspars Aniņš * Uldis Anže * Jānis Āmanis * Romāns Bargais * Marija Bērziņa * Dace Bonāte * Madara Bore * Madara Botmane * Mārtiņš Brūveris * Indra Burkovska * Raimonds Celms * Ilva Centere * Agnese Cīrule * Maija Doveika * Uldis Dumpis * Mārtiņš Egliens * Daiga Gaismiņa * Gundars Grasbergs * Juris Hiršs * Ģirts Jakovļevs * Zane Jančevska * Astrīda Kairiša * Daiga Kažociņa * Anna Klēvere * Ivars Kļavinskis * Arturs Krūzkops * Lāsma Kugrēna * Normunds Laizāns * Juris Lisners * Ģirts Liuziniks * Dita Lūriņa * Mārcis Maņjakovs * Egils Melbārdis * Inga Misāne-Grasberga * Ivars Puga * Sanita Pušpure * Kārlis Reijers * Liene Sebre * Uldis Siliņš * Jānis Skanis * Evija Skulte * Ināra Slucka * Jurģis Spulenieks * Igors Šelegovskis * Voldemārs Šoriņš * Jānis Vimba * Līga Zeļģe * Kaspars Zvīgulis

Freelance actors

* Anta Aizupe * Zane Aļļēna * Lolita Cauka * Alise Danovska * Zane Dombrovska * Artis Drozdovs * Kaspars Dumburs * Rasma Garne *

Baiba Indriksone Baiba Indriksone (22 February 1932 – 14 May 2024) was a Latvian film and stage actress, affiliated with the Latvian National Theatre. Life and career Indriksone was born in Riga on 22 February 1932. She graduated from the Jāzeps Vītols Latvi ...

* Juris Jope * Kristians Kareļins * Kārlis Krūmiņš * Ance Kukule * Kristaps Ķeselis * Līga Liepiņa * Marija Linarte * Zigurds Neimanis * Uldis Norenbergs * Ilze Rudolfa * Inta Tirole * Arno Upenieks * Māra Zemdega * Ausma Ziemele

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control National theatres 1919 establishments in Latvia Theatres in Riga Theatres in Latvia Independence of Latvia