Theater, IJzerenmanweg bij 15

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

The OPEN-AIR THEATRE WITH TRIBUNE, STAGE BUILDING AND CONTROL ROOM is part of the recreational complex De Lichtenberg. The open-air theatre is a design by architect P.H. Weegels, in collaboration with visual artist Harrie Martens. In 1959 the stage building was taken into use, followed by the tribune and control room. The open-air theatre is located on the northwest side of the complex.

Description

The trapezoidal theatre is situated in an artificially created bowl shape. On the east side of the theatre, the stage building and the sloping performance area (oval-shaped stage) and the prompter's box are positioned against a low artificial embankment; on the west side, the rising tribunes are positioned against a higher artificial embankment. Between them is the orchestra pit, which is positioned in a section sunken to below ground level. From the entrance square, beside the sanitary building, a path surrounded by woodland runs upward to the rear of the theatre where a public entrance is located. Here, at the highest part of the theatre, the control room is also accessible, situated in the middle of the tribune. On the east side the theatre is enclosed by the stage building. On the other sides by walls of Nivelstein rough stone. On the rear (west side) this is a curved wall. At the height of the performance area, entrances with double wooden doors have been made in both side walls. The fan-shaped tribunes are executed in the form of concrete steps on which wooden benches were placed. Between the benches are footpaths. On the outside of the theatre, an iron framework for lighting is placed against both side walls. With a view to optimal acoustics, the two corners at the rear of the theatre are executed in a rounded shape, constructed in hollow brickwork.

The stage building is a three-storey volume with basement and flat roof. The side walls step back progressively so that the building is narrower at the rear. Behind the stage building is a (now unrecognizable) triangular terrace with curved metal lamp posts. On the front (theatre side) is a substantial concrete colonnade over the full height of the building. The colonnade is slightly wider than the building. The front facade behind it has, on the ground floor, in the centre an entrance. On the storeys are two asymmetrically placed doorways with balconies. The front facade is entirely provided with an abstract sgraffito artwork designed by H. Martens. It was executed under his direction by pupils of the Vrije Expressieclub. Between the colonnade and the front facade, on either side of the entrance, is a stairway to the basement. The side facades are constructed alternately from walls made of glazed brick and facades consisting of a concrete framework with windows with steel window profiles. The closed concave rear facade is constructed of Nivelstein rough stone. In the southern side wall is a work of art designed by H. Martens and his pupil K. Meiderts. It is executed in various colours of glazed brick. Against the northern side wall is a chimney. The interior consists of various spaces with, at the rear, a stairwell spanning the full width of the building. The side walls of the stairwell slope towards the rear facade. The stairs consist of concrete floating steps. Various floor mosaics are placed in the circulation spaces. The ceilings are executed in hollow brickwork.

At the rear of the theatre stands, on one substantial L-shaped concrete base, the single-storey control room which also functioned as a projection cabin for films. Due to the construction on a single concrete base, the control room appears to float above the tribunes. At the rear, the control room is accessible via a concrete flight of steps with iron railings, slightly tilted outward. The entrance is located, set back, in a portico. The front facade is entirely executed in a concrete framework which was initially, except for two narrow horizontal projection openings, closed off with wooden boards. The remaining facades are blank walls which on the outside are executed in blue-tinted glazed brick. The ceiling is executed in hollow brickwork.

Valuation

The OPEN-AIR THEATRE WITH TRIBUNE, STAGE BUILDING AND CONTROL ROOM is of general significance

- because of its cultural-historical value as a distinctive expression of the development of Catholic life in southern Netherlands and as a typological example of a post-war open-air theatre.

- The control room has cultural-historical value as a distinctive expression of a technical development in which a substantial, precisely cast L-shaped concrete base was applied.

- The open-air theatre, the tribune, the stage building and the control room have high architectural-historical value because of the use of materials and because of the aesthetic quality of the monumental art of the design with modernist elements.

- The open-air theatre, tribune, stage building and control room have ensemble value because of their mutual functional-spatial relationship and because of the functional-spatial relationship with the other components of the complex.