With the traditional New Year’s concert by the North Netherlands Orchestra, the last performance in Schouwburg Ogterop in its current form is over. The theater will be closed for at least two years for major renovations.
“The public will no longer come and no more artists will come. It is really the last,” says Natalie Straatman, director of the Ogterop theater. Almost the entire theater is destroyed. Only the monumental main hall, the oldest theater hall in the province, remains standing.
Everything around it changes. The rest dates from the 1960s or 1970s and suffers from overdue maintenance, bottlenecks or is even technically no longer permitted under health and safety regulations. “It is wiser to tackle it in such a way that it can continue into the future. That Ogterop can move forward another 50 years.”
The renovation will cost around 23 million euros. Although the large hall, a classic bonbonnière, will be retained, no performances can be given there in the meantime. “The stage will be lowered by thirty centimeters. It will be bigger. Moreover, it will be completely newly excavated, because we are going to improve the sight lines. So the auditorium will be even better.”