Inside the State Theater by Nemorino
In its current (remodeled) form, the State Theater in Darmstadt has a Large House (Großes Haus) with 956 seats, which is used mainly for opera performances. There is also a Small House (Kleines Haus) with 482 seats, which now (again) is used mainly for spoken theater and dance performances.For smaller forms and experimental theater, a new 100-seat Chamber Theater (Kammerspiele) was created at the beginning of the 21st century, using some of the space from the previous century's parking garage.
Operas I have seen in Darmstadt include Verdi's La Traviata, Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, Flotow's Martha, Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore and Lucia di Lammermoor, Massenet's Cendrillon and Werther, Schreker's Das Spielwerk, Vivaldi's Orlando, Mozart's Così fan tutte -- and most recently Mozart's first two operas, both of which he wrote when he was eleven years old, Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots and Apollo et Hyacinthus.
Second photo: Spectators in the theater lobby.
Third photo: Looking down from the balcony of the Small House. During the period of rebuilding, from 2002 to 2007, this smaller hall was also used for opera (meaning it was really hard to get tickets!), as well as spoken theater and dance.
Fourth photo: Musicians in the orchestra pit of the Small House.
