Theatres

The Estonian Drama Theatre is the biggest drama company in Estonia. At the moment the permanent troupe consists of 37 actors and actresses and there are 5 permanent directors. Around 10 plays premier every season and more than 20 plays are constantly in the repertoire. During a year approximately 500 performances are given to a total audience of more than 100 000.

The Drama Theatre was born in 1924, when the Drama Studio Theatre (Draamastuudio Teater) was founded by the graduates of the first Estonian Theatre Studio. In 1937 the company was renamed to the Estonian Drama Theatre (Eesti Draamateater). Special attention was paid to the staging of Estonian literature. The Estonian Drama Theatre has been in the role of a national theatre for a long time, despite the fact that the name of the theatre doesn’t directly suggest it. Since the very beginning and all the way up until today the theatre has brought to the stage a lot of world classics as well as new modern dramas from various countries.

The theatre company has performed always in the art deco style former German Theatre of Tallinn which is the oldest theatre house in Estonia (completed in 1910).

Since 2018, Hendrik Toompere jr has been the artistic director of the Estonian Drama Theatre and since 2006 the theatre has been under the management of the actor Rein Oja.