Hager Fikir Theatre, Performance theatre and music venue in Piazza district, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Hager Fikir Theatre is a performance venue housed in a converted warehouse building on John Melly Street, featuring both indoor and outdoor spaces for theatrical productions. The structure accommodates various artistic presentations and brings together different types of performers and shows.
The Ye-hager Fikir Mahber association founded the venue in 1935 as a nightclub before it evolved into the first indigenous theatre in Africa. During Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941, it operated underground and became a symbol of artistic resistance.
The venue showcases Ethiopian dramas alongside adaptations of Shakespeare, Schiller, Ibsen, and Molière, blending international theatrical works with local artistic expressions. The stage continues to serve as a gathering place where audiences encounter stories reflecting both their own heritage and the wider world.
The venue hosts regular programming with theatrical performances mainly on weekends, film screenings during weekdays, and musical concerts around public holidays. Visitors should plan flexibly to match their interests with the varying schedule throughout the week.
The space has a deep-rooted tradition of using theatre as a form of resistance, most notably during the Italian occupation when artists continued staging productions despite foreign control and danger. This history of artistic defiance remains central to how the place is understood and valued today.
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