Bourla Theatre
Neoclassical playhouse of 1834 on the Komedieplaats, home of the Toneelhuis company.
The theatre was built between 1827 and 1834 to designs by Pierre Bruno Bourla, the city architect of Antwerp, on the site of an earlier riding school and theatre used by the Tafelrondt society. Its neoclassical front carries a curved colonnade and a row of statues of Apollo and the muses, while the horseshoe auditorium rises through several tiers of boxes under a painted ceiling. Much of the original stage machinery of wooden drums, ropes and counterweights survives above and below the stage, a rare survival in Europe.
After the city's Dutch-language company moved out in 1980 the building fell into disrepair and demolition was discussed, but a campaign led to a full restoration completed in 1993. It is now the home of Toneelhuis, the Antwerp city theatre company, which presents its own productions alongside guest work in theatre, dance and music. Guided tours take visitors backstage to the machinery and the foyers, and the theatre is protected as a monument.
Highlights
- Colonnaded facade topped by statues of Apollo and the muses
- Horseshoe auditorium with tiers of boxes and painted ceiling
- Original nineteenth-century wooden stage machinery
- Home stage of the Toneelhuis company
