Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam

Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg municipal theatre building location

It is hard to miss this beautiful building on the Leidseplein square. Even more so because the street musicians that take advantage of the great acoustics of the arcade in front of the building.

History of the Municipal Theater

There has been a theater on the square since 1774. It burnt down by a firework accident and a new theater was built at the same spot. The neo-classical look of the old theater was considered old-fashioned in 1894 the architects build the new Municipial Theater in neo-renaissance style. Until quite recently the theater was also the place to see opera, but nowadays opera productions are staged at the newly-build Music Theater.




Architecture of the Municipal Theater

The Stadsschouwburg is built in neo-renaissance style. The horseshoe-shaped auditorium seats 1200 visitors and is designed like an eighteenth-century Court Theater. There used to be different kinds of seats for the different ranks of society and a special box for the king. The beautiful entrance, the grand stairs, the velvet red curtains, golden chandeliers and magnificent wall paintings conjures up an atmosphere of fairy-tales and nineteenth-century luxury.

Theater Group Amsterdam

Toneelgroep Amsterdam was the biggest theater company in the Netherlands. Artistic director Ivo van Hove was leading the company from 2001 until 2023. Theater Group Amsterdam has become famous for their ability to play classical masterpieces as if they were written yesterday, and for their daring choices of modern plays. Talented stage managers from the entire world were invited to create their performances with the group.

In 2018 Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg and Toneelgroep Amsterdam merged forming the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA). Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA) is one of the leading lights in Dutch theatre, with a large ensemble of world famous actors and a pioneering team of directors. Performances will be held by the ITA-ensemble not only at the Amsterdam venue, but also at around 100 other venues around the world.

Stadsschouwburg tickets booking

Theater tickets can be bought at the box office at Leidseplein 26
Telephone: +31(0)20 624 23 11 (Monday till Saturday 12.00 - 18.00)

Stadsschouwburg opening hours

Monday to Saturday: 10am to 6pm or until the start of performance,
On Sundays and public holidays they the Stadsschouwburg opens 2 hours before the start of performance.

How to get to Stadsschouwburg

There are two parking garages in the vicinity: Europarking, 250 Marnixstreet and Byzantium, Tesselschadestraat 1G.
A lot of trams and busses stop at the Leidseplein:
From Central Station: trams 1, 2 and 5, and busses 170 and 172.
From the East or West side of the city: trams: 6, 7 and 10.
Public transport runs frequently until 00.15. After that there are less frequent night busses.

AddressContacts

Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam
Leidseplein 26
1017 PT   Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Tel: +31 20 6242311

Stadsschouwburg in Amsterdam on the map