Rakvere Theatre
Repertory theatre with two stages in Rakvere manor park, opened on 24 February 1940.
Rakvere Theatre grew out of an actors' circle founded in the town in 1921 and became a professional company in 1940. Its home in Rakvere manor park combines the late nineteenth-century manor house with a community house added between 1928 and 1940, and the theatre was opened with a public ceremony on 24 February 1940, the anniversary of Estonian independence. The complex is a protected architectural monument and today holds a large hall and a small studio stage.
The company is unusual in maintaining a year-round repertory of its own in a town of about fifteen thousand people. Its programme mixes Estonian plays, international classics, new writing and productions for children, and the troupe also tours to other Estonian towns. Rakvere is a theatre town more widely: the international Baltoscandal festival of contemporary performance is held here, and summer productions are staged at the ruins of Rakvere Castle on the hill above the park.
Highlights
- Professional repertory company working since 1940
- Large hall and small studio stage in the former manor complex
- Building combines the manor house with a 1930s community house
- Regular touring productions to other Estonian towns
