Drama Theatre (Teatro Street 2)

The building of the city theatre, referred to as the Comedy House  used to stand not far from the castle already back in 1785, but its fate is unknown.
In 1803 the merchant Ch. W. Wachsenn established the Performance House (Schauspielhaus) in a warehouse near Danė river.  After his death, the city spent several years with no theatre at all, until Ulbrich, a merchant from Latvia established a temporary wooden theatre near Danė river in 1818.
In 1819 the merchants Ruppel and Woitkowitz established a joint company and had built a brick theatre building in the location of the current-day Klaipėda Drama Theatre. It was opened in 1820 with The Father’s Heart (Das Vaterherz) by Billerbeck. This theatre was very active, featuring plays by W. Shakespeare, F. Schiller, operas by W. A. Mozart, G. Rossini and other famous composers, as well as vaudevilles for entertainment. The strong and large 40-people troupe of the theatre went on many tours, spending half a year on tour in Vilnius several times in 1820–1825. The theatre’s symphonic orchestra used to host many concerts, accompanied by Tilsit Brass Orchestra.
The theatre was supported by Concordia cultural organisation, founded in 1826. In 1836 this organisation invited the Königsberg Opera, led by R. Wagner during its tour in Klaipėda.
In 1854 the theatre was destroyed during the Great Fire. The new building was completed in 1870. At that time the city theatre became private and did not fare very well. It was purchased and reconstructed by the city only in 1893. The theatre was one of the major sources of culture in Memel/Klaipėda up until 1945, featuring tours of various troupes, complex performances, concerts and city events.
As of 1923 Klaipėda Theatre used to host Kaunas Opera Theatre, featuring the best artists and conductors of Kaunas – K. Petrauskas, J. Tallat Kelpša and J. Gruodis – at operas Carmen, The Barber of Seville, Faust, Tosca, Madame Butterfly and Rigoletto.
In 1935, Aukuras Society initiated the transfer of Šiauliai Drama Theatre into Klaipėda, including all actors, stage technicians and director. The theatre was titled as Klaipėda State Theatre. At that time the building of the theatre was managed by the city magistrate, which also managed the city’s educational and cultural issues. Therefore, according to the contract, the Lithuanian theatre could use the theatre hall two days a week, while the rest of the activity took place at various locations all over the city.
The Lithuanian theatre was opened in 1935 and in the first month since the opening it presented two premières by the official theatre director B. Dauguvietis, who worked and lived in Klaipėda at that time. The theatre often toured not only in Lithuania, but also Latvia and received favourable ratings in Kaunas as well. In almost four years of its activity in Klaipėda, the Lithuanian theatre staged 22 premières. The writer K. Binkis, who came to see the première of Atžalynas, was fascinated by the theatre and its audience. However, although the Lithuanian theatre in Klaipėda did have many fans on tours, their performances did not attract many locals. The actors of the theatre used to read lectures on the radiophone, printed articles in press and published Teatras magazne. In 1939 the theatre was accompanied by a drama studio. In 1939 the activity of the Lithuanian theatre stopped and 1940 marked the opening of Vilnius Drama Theatre, which featured almost all of the actors that used to work in Klaipėda.