Helsinki City Theatre


The Helsinki City Theatre is a theatre located in Helsinki, Finland. Owned by the Helsinki Theatre Foundation, it operates on a perception of itself as a "modern popular bilingual repertoire theatre."
The Helsinki City Theatre is the only Finnish representative in the European Theatre Convention. In addition to drama and musicals, the theatre operates a concert dance oriented branch, the Helsinki Dance Company.
Annual figures reported by the theatre include 20 new productions, 1,100 performances, and 350,000 spectators. The theatre has 250 permanent members of staff, and operates across 6 stages.

History

The theatre has its roots in two organizations: Helsingin Työväenteatteri and Helsingin Kansanteatteri. These two merged in 1948 to form Helsingin Kansanteatteri-Työväenteatteri, which eventually transitioned into the Helsinki City Theatre in 1964. The rebranding was largely a result of the emergence of the Helsinki Theatre Foundation, who owns the theatre, and whose members are elected by the City Council of Helsinki.
Prior to 1965, the Helsinki City Theatre operated on third-party stages, after which the organization chose to construct a theatre building of their own. They held an architectural competition for the design of the new building, which was won by Timo Penttilä. The building designed by Penttilä opened in 1967. In 1989, an annex building was constructed, which was also designed by Penttilä's architectural firm.

Stages