Theatre

We mostly use our venues for our own work, but whenever possible, we also host other events. Don't hesitate to get in touch, the sooner the better.

We have up-to-date, professional sound, lighting, and video equipment, as well as platforms for building a concert stage. A video screen can be rented on favourable terms through our partners.

The Large Hall has 153 seats on raised platforms.
With additional seating, the capacity is 200–250 (depending on whether there is a stage and where it is positioned). Part of the seating platvorms can be removed; in a standing setup, the hall can accommodate up to 400 people.

The Small Hall has 60 seats on raised platforms.
However, the platforms can be entirely removed and the space can be reconfigured in various ways. But the overall capacity is more or less the same.

Check availability
bronn@uusteater.ee

Stage & Technical questions
Rene Liivamägi
rene@uusteater.ee
5347 9995

Tickets and Admin questions
Lisanna Annus
lisanna@uusteater.ee
5300 7522

We founded Tartu New Theatre in 2008 as a kind of theatrical branch of the Genialistide Klubi. The first production can therefore be considered Ott Aardam’s Port Authority, which premiered at the Genialistide Klubi in the Lutsu Theatre House — although the name “New Theatre” did not appear on the posters until the following project.

The theatre grew out of a wish to realise ideas we would like to see, but which did not fit anywhere else. Our aim is to make theatre that is flexible, searching, research-driven, curious, and grounded in a strong authorial position. Simply good plays can be well made anywhere.

Before settling into our current building, we worked in several temporary locations: first planning a venue in the Pärmivabrik vodka warehouse, then operating at Magasini 5, and from 2011 in the former sports hall at Lai 37. Between 2017 and 2019, a large-scale crowdfunding campaign made it possible for us to become owners of the theatre building.

Alongside our own stages, we have worked in theatres and non-theatrical spaces across Estonia and internationally — from city theatres to buses, trains, parks, factories, beaches, abandoned buildings, and urban streets — treating space as an active part of our theatrical language.

But theatre is not a building or a space — theatre is people. People arrive and leave; they are always irreplaceable and yet replaceable, changing together with the theatre or changing the theatre itself. There have been moments of great joy, disappointments, even intrigues, but what matters most is why we do this. And that is a question worth asking again and again.

We have received praise, awards, love, misunderstanding, and even hostility — as befits a committed and searching theatre.

Over the years, what was once a “plastic-bag theatre” has become a solid, independent organisation capable of realising even the most daring ideas, for audiences of 1 or 2,000. So that others would not have to go through the same path, we have opened our house to various theatre projects, both for guest performances and co-productions.

The theatre stands on the former site of the Church of the Holy Spirit, which dates back to the Middle Ages. The church and hospital stood along the city wall, next to the Russian Gate. They were most likely originally built of wood and later reconstructed in fieldstone and brick. The complex functioned as a hospice for the poor and the infirm of the surrounding area and was governed by the city council. At the same time, the hospital was also used as a means of combating folk medicine.

Over time, the buildings changed both purpose and ownership. In the 16th century, they were transferred to the Franciscan Convent of St Clare. After the Reformation, the site continued to function as a hospital in a transformed form, and following the Livonian War only the church remained. Later, the city executioner lived on the site, and after the Great Northern War the former church was used as a grain store for the city. This function gave its name to the neighbouring Magasini Street.

At the end of the 19th century, the plot was purchased by the Society for the Establishment of Tartu Health Institutions, which demolished the former buildings and constructed a gymnasium in 1889–1890, designed by architect Reinhold Guleke. This building — today’s main structure — has retained its architectural character despite later extensions. During the Second World War, the gymnasium was heavily damaged and later rebuilt with a different roof. After the war, the building belonged to the University of Tartu, and additional structures were added, including a boiler house and a storage building (now part of the Small Hall).

In 2010, following the relocation of the Department of Physical Education, the University decided to sell the building. Tartu New Theatre has been here since 2011. Between 2017 and 2019, a crowdfunding campaign enabled MTÜ Uus Teater to purchase the former gymnasium — now the theatre building — from its previous owner.

Tartu New Theatre is one of the few theatres in Estonia that owns its own building.