Teatro Variedades opens in the last quarter of the year under the management of EGEAC

In 2015, Lisbon City Council decided to move towards its rehabilitation. The work was supposed to last a year, but following problems with the contractor (which led to the termination of the contract in 2019), everything stopped. The work was awarded again in 2020 and, in the meantime, new perspectives have emerged regarding the reopening of the Portuguese magazine’s home, where Vasco Santana or Anita Guerreiro passed by: first quarter of 2023, end of 2023 and mid-2024. Now, the Chamber Municipal de Lisboa (CML) advances a new forecast: the last quarter of the year.

After, on March 21st, the management transfer proposal was approved from Teatro Variedades to EGEAC, in the executive’s private meeting, Time Out questioned the Culture office about the future of the equipment. With capacity to accommodate 363 people, the new room designed by architect Aires Mateus will be a “welcome” space. of professional shows or promoted by professional entities in the cultural sector”, functioning as “a catalyst for a culturally vibrant and inclusive community”, responds to the municipality via email. The property, he continues, “presents the appropriate conditions for EGEAC to accommodate the installation and operation of the aforementioned cultural equipment, which will allow the presentation of a different program, in relation to similar equipment already under the management of EGEAC”, such as the Capitol, the São Luiz or the Bairro Alto Theater.

Regarding the relationship with the Capitol’s neighbor, “being different equipment but managed by the same entity, synergies are foreseen with regard to the rationalization of technical resources, among others, which could allow the reduction of operational costs”. But there are no other partnerships on the horizon.

“A space without programming”

Despite approval at a Chamber meeting, the fact that Variedades assumed itself as a reception place was not consensual. The PS, which voted against, criticizes the option for “a space without programming, without being handed over to a company and which has no guaranteed cultural, theatrical or other activity”. The Left Bloc, which nevertheless voted in favor of the decision, argues that Variedades should not be “just a reception structure”.

Regarding this aspect, the municipality explains to Time Out that the model “intends to respond to the growing need for spaces where artists and cultural agents can present their productions”. The option “is based on the principles of diversity, equity and equal opportunities in access to this iconic space in our city”, he continues.

Still no “future proposal” for Parque Mayer

The rehabilitation of the Teatro Variedades is part of the intervention plan at Parque Mayer, for which CML claims to be “working on a future proposal”, with the aim of making the venue “a meeting point for culture, arts and science ”. In this context, the municipality admits that “the concrete definition of a cultural concept that guides the rehabilitation and revitalization of this central area of ​​the city” is a “priority”, in a “strategic interconnection with the prestigious Avenida da Liberdade axis, as well as other areas” of Lisbon.

Variedades will operate, for now, next to the Capitol and the Maria Vitória Theatre, with the capacity to accommodate 363 people seated, in the room and on the balcony, a stage measuring 8.50 meters by 6 meters and an orchestra pit with a platform that allows it to be positioned on four levels, “allowing flexibility of use in articulation with the stage and room spaces”. O rehabilitation process will soon enter the final phase (it is “the contract relating to the benches and the scenic area is ongoing”), ensuring maintenance dthe main characteristic elements of the 1920s building, such as the portico and the foyer.

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