Varscona Theatre
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 Interactive map of Varscona Theatre | |
| Address | 10329 83 Avenue NW Edmonton Canada |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 53°31′8″N 113°29′47″W / 53.51889°N 113.49639°W |
| Capacity | 176 |
| Construction | |
| Years active | 1983-present |
| Website | |
| http://varsconatheatre.com/ | |
The Varscona Theatre is a live performance venue in the Old Strathcona neighborhood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Since 1994, the Varscona has been operated by a consortium of small theatre companies, including Teatro la Quindicina and Shadow Theatre (collectively known as The Varscona Theatre Alliance). The theatre is also the home of the nationally renowned live improvised soap opera Die-Nasty. In addition, the Varscona has hosted tapings of The Irrelevant Show, a national sketch comedy program aired on CBC Radio. The Varscona holds over 300 performances and has 30,000 audience members per year. It employs 100 local professional theatre artists.[1]
Name
The building was initially constructed as Edmonton's Fire Hall #6 in 1956, which replaced the brick 1909 Fire Hall #6 across the road (the 1909 building has been home to The Walterdale Playhouse since 1974). The city's firefighting Fire Station #6 was relocated to 81 Avenue at 96 Street,[2] and the building was repurposed as a theatre in 1982, under the name Chinook Theatre. It was renamed as The Varscona Theatre in 1996. It was rebuilt, using the old fire hall as a shell, in 2016. The old hose tower was preserved as a prominent eminence in the new building.[3]
From 1983 to 1993, it served as the headquarters of Chinook Children's Theatre and the Edmonton International Fringe Festival. It is still used as a venue during the Fringe Festival every August.
The Varscona's name is an homage to Edmonton's original Varscona Theatre, a 1940s art deco movie theatre formerly at the intersection of Whyte Avenue and 109 Street. The movie theatre was demolished in 1987 for the construction of a credit union (later a TD Canada Trust). The 1987 building was subsequently demolished and replaced, in 2009, by a Shoppers Drug Mart.[4]