Theater is an ancient art. It gained visibility in Greek and Roman times and continues to attract public attention. Nowadays, from the north to the south of Portugal, there are several concert halls that serve to bring artists and audiences together in an unparalleled moment of sharing. So how about a guide to some of Porto’s most emblematic theater venues?
After all, March 27 marks World Theater Day, created in the 1960s by the International Theater Institute. In the Invicta city, the programs are varied, including comedies, dramas and plays for children. So drop the curtain, sit back and discover more curiosities about Porto’s the aters.
Table Of Contents
Municipal Theater of Porto
It is divided into two poles, both belonging to Porto City Council. They are the Rivoli Theater, right in the heart of the city, and the Campo Alegre Theater, next to one of Invicta’s main arteries. The theaters work in such a way as to complement each other’s programming, which is characterized by being very diverse.
Rivoli Theater
This theater was inaugurated in 1913 under the name of Teatro Nacional. It was modernized in 1932, when the current façade was created and the theater was adapted into a cinema with opera, dance, theater and concert programming. It was also at this time that the name Teatro Rivoli came about.
The 1940s and 1950s were the hall’s true golden years, but from the 1970s onwards it began to decline. In 1989 the Porto City Council acquired the building, refurbished it in the 1990s and reopened it in 1997 under the auspices of the Teatro Municipal do Porto.
📍 D. João I Square
📞 22 339 2201
🎟️ Current schedule
Campo Alegre Theater
The Campo Alegre Theater was built in 2000 and was managed by the now defunct Science and Development Foundation. In 2012, the theater came under the tutelage of Porto City Council and became part of the city’s Municipal Theater .
This experimental hub of the Teatro Municipal do Porto is characterized as a creative laboratory.
📍 Street of Stars
📞 22 606 3017
🎟️ Current schedule
São João National Theatre
The Teatro Nacional de São João (TNSJ) is one of the city’s main theaters, much visited by locals or tourists.
It opened its doors in 1798 under the name Real Teatro de São João, to mark the birthday of Prince João (future King João VI). However, in 1908 the Teatro Real burnt down completely and was built by the architect Marques da Silva between 1911 and 1920, the building remaining as we know it to this day .
In 1992 the theater was acquired by the Portuguese state and in 2012 it was reclassified as a national monument.
The TNSJ includes two other centers, the Teatro Carlos Alberto and the Monastery of São Bento da Vitória.
📍 Batalha Square
📞 22 340 1900
🎟️ Current schedule
Carlos Alberto Theater
The Carlos Alberto Theater opened its doors in 1897 to present popular plays. During the period when the TNSJ burned down and until it was refurbished, this was one of the theaters that rivaled the others for the top spot in the city’s ‘theater of the first order’.
The name of this theater refers to King Charles of Sardinia, who died in exile in Porto in 1849 and who had been housed in the Palacete do Barão do Valado, in whose garden the theater was built on the initiative of Manuel da Silva Neves.
For a few years this hall was somewhat ‘forgotten’, but it was returned to the city in 2003 with a refurbished façade and a varied program.
📍 Rua das Oliveiras, 43
📞 22 340 19 00
🎟️ Current schedule
Monastery of São Bento da Vitória
The Monastery of São Bento da Vitória is right in the historic center of the city and is one of the most important religious buildings in Invicta. And for this reason he was appointed National Monument in 1977. This monastery was built at the end of the 16th century by the Portuguese Benedictine Congregation and became an authentic meeting place for music and singing, thanks in no small part to the church organ.
After many years of renovations and additions, in 1985 the Monastery was restored and the Benedictine Monks, the Porto National Orchestra and the District Archive were installed here.
In 2001, with the organization of Porto 2001 – European Capital of Culture, the Noble Cloister was covered with an acoustic shell, a metallic steel structure resting on four pillars, and a wooden floor was laid, thus improving its acoustics. In 2007, the State assigned part of the building to the São João National Theatre in order to extend its programming to this space.
📍 Rua de São Bento da Vitória
📞 22 340 1900
🎟️ Current schedule
Sá da Bandeira Theater
The Sá da Bandeira Theater opened as the Circus Theater in 1846, at the time a wooden shed for an equestrian company. Years later, in 1867, it was demolished to make way for a ‘stone and mortar’ theater, although this building was replaced by the one that still stands today.
In the late 1870s it was renamed Teatro-Circo do Príncipe Real, and for several decades it was one of the best theaters in Porto. It was in the cinema room of this theater, in 1896, that Aurélio da Paz dos Reis presented the first films directed by a Portuguese.
This was possibly the first theater in Porto to use electric lighting instead of gas lighting. The name by which we know this room was given in 1910. In 2018 it was considered an ‘Entity of Local Historical and Cultural or Social Interest’ and since 2019, this theater has belonged to Livraria Lello.
📍 Rua Sá da Bandeira, 108
📞 22 200 3595
🎟️ Current schedule
Porto Coliseum
The construction of the Coliseu do Porto took place between 1937 and 1941, when the Art Deco building opened its doors with a concert by the National Symphony, conducted by Pedro de Freitas Branco.
In 1995, this room caused quite a stir when the AXA Insurance Company tried to sell it to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
This sale was prevented due to the intervention of numerous personalities from Porto’s culture, the Porto City Council, the Porto Metropolitan Area and the Secretary of State for Culture. A non-profit association was then set up to acquire the Coliseum and manage it responsibly.
In 1996, a fire destroyed the stage box, the main hall and the dressing rooms, and the doors were reopened in 1998. It was considered a ‘Monument of Public Interest’ in 2012 and is currently one of the theaters with the largest number of spectators.
📍 Passos Manuel Street, 137
📞 22 339 494
🎟️ Current schedule