Teatro Maria Della Costa is a theatre in

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The theatre has a capacity of 370 seats.

History

The theatre was founded in 1954 by actress Maria Della Costa and her husband, producer Sandro Polloni with the help of actress Italia Fausta Polloni. The building was designed by

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...

and

Lúcio Costa Lúcio Marçal Ferreira Ribeiro Lima Costa (27 February 1902 – 13 June 1998) was a Brazilian architect and urban planner, best known for his plan for Brasília. Early life Costa was born in Toulon, France, the son of Brazilian parents. His ...

and financed with the help of

Banco Nacional Banco Nacional was a bank from Brazil. It was taken over by Unibanco in 1995. The ''Nacional'' brand is better known as main sponsor of Ayrton Senna during all his racing career in Formula One (1984-1994). The TV Globo's popular news program '' ...

and Octávio Frias, owner of Folha de S.Paulo. The first show at the theatre was '' Song of the Lark'' by

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; ; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ...

directed by Gianni Ratto. In 1978, the theatre was acquired by the Association of Theatrical Producers of São Paulo State, with the aim of providing more benefits to its members. In 1995, the theatre underwent a massive renovation, reopening on July 30, 1996 with a large reopening reception.

Reviews

In 2014, the Folha de S.Paulo reviewed the sixty largest theatres in the city. The theatre received a three-star review, with reviewers writing that the venue is well-designed and the audience has a good view of the stage. The reviewers also mentioned that while the theatre has a large entrance hall, wheelchair users do not have access to the entrance hall or the lower boxes, instead entering from a street entrance that leads to the concert hall on the second floor.

References

Theatres in São Paulo {{Brazil-theat-struct-stub