NO99 Straw Theatre

NO99 Straw Theatre was an object standing on the verge of being a pure functional container on the one hand, and an art installation on the other. The Straw Theatre was built on the occasion of Tallinn being the 2011 European Capital of Culture, to house a special summer season programme of NO99 theatre.

It was built on top of the Skoone bastion, one of the best preserved baroque fortifications of Tallinn. At the beginning of the 20th century, the bastion was used as a public garden, and during the Soviet era it was a semi-restricted recreational area for the servicemen of the Soviet navy that also accommodated a wooden summer theatre. For the last 20 years the bastion has remained a closed and neglected spot of the city known for real estate controversies and several large but ultimately failed development plans. In such a context, the Straw Theatre was an attempt to acknowledge and temporarily reactivate the location, test its potential and bring it back to use, doing all this with due respect to all historical layers of the site.

The rectangular main volume of the theatre was situated exactly on the same spot where the former navy summer theatre was until it burned down. One descending flight of stairs of the former was used as a covered walkway and entrance area to the Straw Theatre. The dramatic appeal of the building stemmed from its contextual setting and its black, uncompromisingly mute main volume contrasting with a descending „tail“ under an articulate angular roof. And of course, one cannot escape the effect of the material – uncovered straw bales, spray painted black. The Straw Theatre was a unique occasion where straw had been used for a large public building and adjusted to a refined architectural form. For reinforcement purposes, the straw walls were secured with trusses, which was a type of construction previously unused in Estonia. As a temporary structure it was not insulated as normal straw construction would require but was kept open to experience the raw tactile qualities of straw and accentuate the symbolism of the life cycle of this sustainable material.