Asmara Theatre (), also known as Asmara Opera, is a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. It was constructed in 1918 following a design by the Italian engineer Odoardo Cavagnari, with later renovations in 1936.

Characteristics

The building combines elements of

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

and

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. The painting of the ceiling of the auditorium shows the tendencies of the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

. Indeed, the roof has paintings by Saverio Fresa with dance images. It was one of the most famous buildings in Italian Asmara. The building was erected on a hillside in Italian

, at the eastern end of the north side of today's Harriet Avenue (the old Corso Italia, later named Corso Mussolini and now the main road of Asmara) and at the corner of Beleza Street. This location made it possible to make the ascent to the Opera as a monumental

staircase A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...

, which is circled on both sides by a shell-shaped fountain and a Renaissance-style

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...

with Corinthian columns. The rest of the exterior of the building, especially the Beleza Street side facing, is castle-like, designed with battlements and towers. From the porch, it is possible to reach the

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...

, which in turn gives access to the huge auditorium. This has, in addition to the parquet floor, three additional levels and can have 750 spectators. The stage is relatively small and does not have additional technical equipment. In 1938 the international car race called the Asmara circuit was started exactly in front of the Opera building, on the Viale Roma (now called Sematat Avenue). The building was named ''Teatro Asmara'' until after being purchased by Eritrea and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

in 1952 from the Italian owners for far below the market value. After the independence of Eritrea in 1991/93, it was dispossessed and is now

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

property again. In the foyer, there is now a cafe, and in a side building, the headquarters of the national telephone company Eritel. In Asmara Theatre were performed many " commedie" and opera works like those of Pirandello and music by

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long line of composers, s ...

and Verdi, with soprano from the best theatres in Italy: for example, in 1951 was performed "La Patente" of Pirandello and music of Chopin.Teatro Asmara: prosa & musica on 08/23/1951
/ref> After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and until the 1970s even international companies performed in the Asmara Theatre with famous "artistic & musical tours", like those of

Renato Rascel Renato Ranucci (; 27 April 1912 – 2 January 1991), known by the stage name Renato Rascel (), was an Italian film actor and singer. He appeared in 50 films between 1942 and 1972. He represented in the Eurovision Song Contest 1960 with t ...

and Renato Carosone. The theatre was still occasionally used in 2012.

Notes

Bibliography

* Jean-Bernard Carillet: ''Ethiopia & Eritrea''. 2009. * Leonardo Oriolo: ''Asmara Style''. Asmara 1998, S. 149.

Characteristics

Notes

Bibliography

See also