Nord-Est Théâtre

The NEST, Thionville’s national drama center, had been housed for many years in a former traveling structure originally designed for the Théâtre National de l’Odéon in the 1990s. Despite an extension of the foyer under a canvas structure in 2013, the institution was cramped within its walls and the aging facilities were no longer suited to the development of the CDN’s creations. In 2024, the wooden theater will be dismantled and the City of Thionville will launch an architectural competition for the construction of a new theater and set design workshops on the site, on the banks of the Moselle River. The project includes a 350-seat auditorium with a large 22 m x 13 m stage suitable for contemporary theatrical productions. A black box-style creation room will accommodate artists in residence and rehearsals for works in progress. The theater will feature generous public spaces and a mixed-use dining area for artists and the public. The project focuses on the porosity between artist spaces and public spaces, in keeping with the spirit of openness and dissemination that drives the CDN’s management team.
On the technical side, the project includes a stage house with motorized machinery, a technical ceiling in the black box, and the deployment of stage networks ready to accommodate the latest advances in lighting and audiovisual technology. dUCKS designed the scenographic functioning of the theater and the new construction workshops, assisted the architects in the design of the rooms, and defined the technical equipment for the scenography (machinery, AV, lighting, and seating).