Nova Gorica opens new amphitheatre for European Culture Year
A long-envisioned amphitheatre has opened beside the Nova Gorica theatre house, bringing a fresh stage to the city's cultural life just in time for its Capital of Culture title.
The theatre building in the city is a major landmark, the biggest project undertaken by post-Modernist architect Vojteh Ravnikar (1943-2010). It opened in 1994, and the amphitheatre had already been part of Ravnikar's plans in the early 1990s, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
When Nova Gorica won the European Capital of Culture title, the idea was revived by the theatre and the municipality.
The 500-seat open-air venue is suitable to host a variety of shows such as theatre productions, concerts, film screenings and other events.
Inaugurating the amphitheatre, Culture Minister Asta Vrečko and the theatre's director Mirjam Drnovšček stressed the importance of the theatre and its new open-air stage for the city, the region and the cross-border area.
Vrečko said the amphitheatre opened up fresh opportunities for the theatre programme and served as a space for community engagement while also representing an asset for Nova Gorica that would stay there for the people after the European Capital of Culture stint.
Similarly, Drnovšček said the open-air stage opened a new chapter in culture in the city and the broader area.
"We've gained a new space that will connect people, languages, stories and hearts," she said.
The amphitheatre has two dressing rooms, each with a separate smaller dressing room for individuals, a small storage area for chairs, allowing for an additional 100 seats if needed, restrooms and showers, as well as a stage manager's room, which enables it to operate independently from the main theatre building.
Most of the construction work took place in 2023 and 2024, while the venue will be fully completed at the end of the year when its gets a roof.
Fully funded by the Culture Ministry, the amphitheatre cost €6 million and another €1.5 million will be needed to complete it.
