Theater Ansbach, Municipal theatre in Ansbach, Germany
Theater Ansbach is a theatre company founded in 2007, based in the Borkholder-Haus cultural centre in Ansbach. It stages drama, children's and youth theatre, puppet shows and concerts. Its main venue, the Großes Haus, seats 417 but has been closed since February 2024 due to fire-safety defects; performances now take place in the Kleines Haus (64 seats) and the Theater hinterm Eisernen (up to 120 seats).
The cooperative behind the theatre traces back to the Ansbach Konzertverein of 1909, registered as a cooperative in 1919 and housed from 1930 in its own Haus der Volksbildung, today the Borkholder-Haus. In 2006 the city under mayor Ralf Felber and the cooperative agreed to found a theatre; Jürgen Eick became first Intendant in April 2007 and built an ensemble-based house. The first season opened on 26 September 2008 with 11 in-house productions.
The cooperative Theater Ansbach – Kultur am Schloss eG, rooted in the 1909 Ansbacher Konzertverein, runs the theatre together with a classical concert series featuring international guests and the Ansbacher Puppenspiele puppet festival. Its divisions are drama, children's and youth theatre, puppetry and concert; until 2020 the Schlosslichtspiele cinema belonged to it as well.
Since February 2024 the Große Haus has been closed because of fire-safety defects, so performances take place in the Kleines Haus (64 seats), the Theater hinterm Eisernen (up to 120 seats) and at outside venues. Renovation of the Große Haus is planned from autumn 2026 to 2029, during which the theatre will use a temporary venue.
The theatre has no permanent building of its own: it plays in the Borkholder-Haus, modernised and extended in 2001–2003 to plans by Munich architect Hein Goldstein, and in the Kleines Haus, a former studio cinema with 64 seats added as a second venue in the 2021/22 season.
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