Sava Ognyanov Drama Theatre
Ruse's drama company in the Dohodno Zdanie, the neo-Baroque profit-yielding building of 1902.
Theatre in Ruse dates from 1881, when a permanent company was formed in a city that was then the largest and most Europeanised in the Bulgarian principality. The company took the name of the actor Sava Ognyanov and has worked since the early twentieth century in the Dohodno Zdanie on Svoboda Square. Built between 1898 and 1902 to designs by the Viennese architect Peter Paul Brang, the building was financed to yield rental income for civic institutions, which gave it its name.
The neo-Baroque facade carries a figure of Mercury and four rooftop statues representing a soldier, a ploughman, a sailor and a blacksmith. Inside are the Large Stage, the Opera hall and smaller studio spaces shared with the Ruse Opera and Philharmonic Society. The drama company plays a repertoire of Bulgarian and international work, receives touring productions from Sofia and Plovdiv, and hosts the Autumn Theatre Meetings festival each October.
Highlights
- Neo-Baroque Dohodno Zdanie of 1898–1902 by Peter Paul Brang
- Rooftop statues of a soldier, ploughman, sailor and blacksmith
- Company founded in 1881, among Bulgaria's oldest
- Autumn Theatre Meetings festival held each October
