Audience is dwindling, and the stage is worn: 110 years of theater history comes to an end
A historic open-air stage needs a large and expensive renovation, while it is only used for one month every two years.
They are ready to play the final performance on the open-air stage in Hylddalen. (Photo: © Ulrikke Eskelund) 56 minutes ago
This month will be the last time audiences can experience theater among the trees in Hylddalen in Maribo. NørregadeTeatret is now the last to use the stage, and 'The Princess Takes a Day Off' will be their final performance on it.
Because after 110 years, the stage is in need of a large and costly renovation, and at the same time, audience numbers are declining.
Since the early 1900s, Hylddalen has provided generations with both theater and music experiences.
And even though he thinks it's a real shame, Frank Rubæk, theater director of NørregadeTeatret, understands the decision.
- We are the only ones left, and we only perform every other year. You can't pour a lot of money into renovating a place like that in a municipality like Lolland, which is so financially challenged.
Frank Rubæk has been producing theater on the open-air stage since 1998. (Photo: © Ulrikke Eskelund)
Lolland Municipality needs to save several hundred million, and according to Martin Boesen (S), chairman of the Children, School, Leisure, and Culture Committee in Lolland Municipality and vice-chairman of the NørregadeTeatret board, it is not possible to find the money needed to restore the stage.
- Lolland Municipality's finances are strained, and therefore priorities must be set. It's not a cheap renovation of a place that is only used by some people every other year, explains Martin Boesen (S).
Read also: 'Nightmare scenario': Municipality must save several hundred million and cut 'everything that is not mandatory'
At the same time that the stage is only used once every two years, it has also become difficult to attract an audience. When NørregadeTeatret started their performances in Hylddalen, they could draw between 10,000 and 12,000 people. Now they are lucky if 4,000 show up, says Frank Rubæk.
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A gathering place
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The news that this year's performance will be the last saddens Maribo resident Conni Bramsted Andersen. She has only missed a single performance since NørregadeTeatret began playing in 1998.
- It has been fantastic, every single time. They are incredibly talented, and they can get some amazing actors down here, says Conni Bramsted Andersen.
And it's not just the theater experience and the beautiful productions that she will miss.
- It's a gathering place every other year. It's not just the people from Maribo who come. They can draw an audience from near and far. So it's a historic place for Maribo, says Conni Bramsted Andersen.
It is especially the uneven stairs and stands that need some tender loving care. (Photo: © Ulrikke Eskelund)
The stage will not disappear entirely, but the lack of renovation means that the last users are closing up shop.
NørregadeTeatret in Maribo will also continue - just not on the open-air stage.
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