The Helsinki City Theatre ( Finnish : Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri ; Swedish : Helsingfors stadsteater ) is a theatre located in Helsinki , Finland. Owned by the Helsinki Theatre Foundation, it calls itself a "modern popular bilingual repertoire theatre."
10-1151: The Helsinki City Theatre is the only Finnish representative in the European Theatre Convention . In addition to drama and musicals, the theatre operates a concert dance oriented branch, the Helsinki Dance Company. Annual figures reported by the theatre include 20 new productions, 1,100 performances, and 350,000 spectators. The theatre has 250 permanent members of staff, and operates across 6 stages. The theatre has its roots in two organizations: Helsingin Työväenteatteri ("Workers' Theatre of Helsinki", established in 1902) and Helsingin Kansanteatteri (People's Theatre of Helsinki, established in 1934). These two merged in 1948 to form Helsingin Kansanteatteri-Työväenteatteri ("People's and Workers' Theatre of Helsinki"), which eventually transitioned into
20-652: A "platform for dialogue, democracy and interaction", and offers the possibility of international networking for theatre professionals. The executive director is Heidi Wiley. Daniel Benoin [ fr ] , Jean-Claude Drouot and Heribert Sasse [ de ] founded the ETC in 1988. The statutes were laid down in November 1987. Initially three theatres in France, Belgium and Germany collaborated. It aims at promoting contemporary theatrical creation, supporting
30-488: A demographically changing society. Renaissance was a 2021 programme which produced an original series of 22 short drama films. Trans-Formations is a project to energize and revive European theatres and audiences in a post-COVID world. The activities include conferences, artistic programmes and workshops from 2021 to 2024. In 2023, the European Theatre Convention curated the second edition of
40-484: A four-year programme from 2017 to 2021, focused on the topics of participatory theatre , youth theatre and theatre in the digital age. "Theatre is Dialogue – Dialogue of Cultures" is a program that has supported theatre makers in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries since 2014. The focus is on the exchange of the theatre makers, such as artist residencies, guest performances and getting to know each other in
50-623: The Helsinki City Theatre in 1964. The rebranding was largely a result of the emergence of the Helsinki Theatre Foundation, who owns the theatre, and whose members are elected by the City Council of Helsinki . Prior to 1965, the Helsinki City Theatre operated on third-party stages, after which the organization chose to construct a theatre building of their own. They held an architectural competition for
60-457: The design of the new building, which was won by architects Timo Penttilä and Kari Virta. The building designed by Penttilä opened in 1967. In 1989, an annex building was constructed, which was also designed by Penttilä's architectural firm. The working drawings for the theatre building were later donated to the Museum of Finnish Architecture . A bronze model of the theatre building is on display in
70-455: The mobility of emerging artists, and the exchange of activities, ideas and artistic concepts in Europe. The ETC has organised annual conferences on a variety of topics for theatre professionals, and has provided financial and organizational support for international artistic exchange. It has hosted a range of programmes. "ENGAGE – Empowering today's audience through challenging theatre" was
80-558: The radicalization of young people in Europe, using artistic means, in exchange with young people. European Theatre Lab: Drama goes Digital was a project, between 2016 and 2018, to researched the future of theatre in the digital age. It won the Pearle award "Spotlight on Heritage in Culture and the Arts". The Art of Ageing was a project highlighting in four productions the challenges of
90-586: The theatre scene. Young Europe is a project of artistic cooperation, in which ETC member theatres have staged new theatre texts on the subjects of identity and integration, aiming at a young international audience. In 2015, Young Europe was recognized as a "European Success Story" by the EU. Nadia is an international theatre project, funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation [ de ] , that investigates reasons for
100-664: The theatre vestibule. European Theatre Convention The European Theatre Convention ( ETC ) is a European theatre association founded in 1988. The ETC is funded partly by the Creative Europe programme of its strategic partner, the European Commission . It is based in Berlin. As a "network of public theatres in Europe", it has 63 members in 31 European countries (As of November 2023 ). The ETC organizes projects which promote European theatre as
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