The project includes, for example, lowering the hall floor to improve visibility and increase the capacity from 150 to 350 seats, building a balcony, as well as raising the stage space, the Dailes Theater said.
The reconstruction of the Small Hall will start in early April and is expected to be completed in winter. The total cost of the reconstruction is around EUR 4.7 million. The Small Hall will become the New Hall.
Dailes Theater has indicated that the redevelopment will provide the theater with a new and spacious rehearsal hall for iits big stage productions.
"The current uncomfortable rehearsal rooms on the 3rd and 4th floors, built in Soviet times, will be combined into one spacious and modern rehearsal area or black box hall, which will be similar in size to the stage of the Great Hall. Smaller performances could also take place there," the theater said in a statement.
Juris Žagars, Director of the theater, told Latvian Radio that the theatre has to live with the times and the reconstruction of the Small Hall is a long-awaited event.
"One of the most important benefits is that the capacity of the Small Hall will increase from the current 150 to 350 seats. Considering that in the last two years, we have found it increasingly difficult to meet the demand for tickets at the Dailes Theatre and that performances sell out long in advance, this will of course be a great benefit for both the theatre and the audience," Žagars said.
The Dailes Theater has been in the building designed by architect Marta Staņa since 1977.
The Small Hall was originally intended only for rehearsals and was also used as a congress and recreation room for the LSSR (Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic) leadership.
While the reconstruction is going on, some of the performances will be staged in the Ulbrokas Culture Center, in the autumn the performances of the Small Hall will be staged in the Tobacco Factory, and in February next year the reconstructed Small Hall is already planned to be handed over to the audience.
The first play to be staged in the reconstructed hall is Viesturs Kairišs' production, provisionally entitled "Romans".
