Valmiera - the city of theatre in Latvia
Valmiera belongs to the oldest cities of Latvia and is located about 100 km on the north-east from the capital Riga, is one of the oldest towns in Latvia with the population of about 30 000 people.
The first evidence of Valmiera goes back to the 11th century, but the symbols of the town today are the 13th century Lutheran church, called St.Simanis Church, and the ruins of a Livonian Castle.
The industrial and economic life has always been busy along the river Gauja. Today Valmiera is famous for its industrial enterprises - the joint stock company (JSC) "Valmieras stikla šķiedra" that produces glass fibre and JSC "Valpro Corp"- the producer of fuel cans and fire extinquishers. Valmiera has become the educational and cultural centre of Northern Latvia with its Vidzeme University College, that is offering study programs of Public Relations, Political Science, Tourism Management and Information Technologies since 1996. The centre of professional culture of the city is Valmiera Drama Theatre.
Valmiera Drama Theatre
Due to its artistic qualities and strong traditions of performing art as well as openness to new impulses and international contacts, Valmiera Drama Theatre has not only become one of the central axes of Vidzeme professional culture life, but is also considered to be one of the leading theatres in Latvia. Furthermore, step by step the name of Valmiera Theatre appears more often on the international level.
The main facts about Valmiera Drama Theatre:
Guest directors from other Latvian theatres and from abroad have also been involved in staging of some performances, e.g. Andres Leppik (Estonia) produced the performance "The Estonian Funeral" (2006) and "Twelfth night" (2009). Latvian actors have participated in the performance of a version of "Cherry Orchard" written by A.Checkov, directed by Frank Hoil (Germany);
The Theatre offers four scenes of different scale:
During the last years the theatre has gained appreciation from professional experts and reviewers, as well as attention of the mass media. Since 1996 it has regularly been nominated for Annual Latvian Theatre Awards (more than 66 nominations) and has been awarded 22 prizes during the last decade.