The theatre interior design for Kouinta Pocket Theatre concerns the conversion of a shop on Ethnarchou Makariou Street in Kavala into a "pocket" theatre. The space is a long, high-ceilinged shop with a total area of 45 sq.m. Within this area a complete theatre had to fit, with a stage, an auditorium and all the ancillary spaces its operation requires. The shape of the shop and its limited area were the givens from which the design started.
The existing space
The shop extends in depth, with a narrow width and a generous height. At the back there was only a door leading to the rear open yard. The brief called for a theatre able to host both its own productions and performances from Athens and Thessaloniki. That meant a multipurpose stage with full lighting and sound equipment, rather than a stage tailored to a single production.
The building programme was demanding for 45 sq.m. Besides the stage and the auditorium, the design had to provide a box office, a small reception area, a public toilet and dressing rooms for the actors. Every square metre had to serve a specific function.
The theatre interior design of a pocket theatre in 45 square metres
The layout follows the elongated shape of the shop. The space is divided lengthwise into two roughly equal parts: the front holds raked seating for about 30 spectators, while the back forms a black box stage. The raked seating lifts the rows so that every seat has the same view of the stage, despite the shallow depth of the auditorium.
The generous height of the shop is used for a mezzanine that conceals the technical equipment. This way, lighting and sound take no space away from the stage or the auditorium. The door at the back becomes a large glazed wall, hidden behind a black curtain. When the curtain opens, the lit courtyard becomes the backdrop of the stage and can work as part of the set, as it already has in several performances.
The façade on Ethnarchou Makariou Street is the theatre's first point of contact with the city. It is closed along its full height by glazing in black metal frames and a solid black panel in the lower part, to the left of the entrance. Part of this panel turns into a counter for selling tickets, so that the entrance stays clear. Above the entrance projects a black metal canopy with a curved end, from whose underside hang bare globe bulbs that recall the illuminated marquees of theatres. The grey render of the building acts as a neutral background for the black of the shopfront.
At the entrance, the small reception area with the box office has a terrazzo floor. The tones here are dark blue, and the same shade returns in the velvet curtain of the space. On the stage side, black dominates, as a black box that must change its appearance from one performance to the next requires.
Kouinta Pocket Theatre opened on 25 February 2023 and operates as the first private pocket theatre in Kavala. Within 45 sq.m., stage, raked seating, box office, reception, toilet and dressing rooms coexist, each function placed where the shape of the shop allows. The stage hosts both the theatre's own productions and touring performances, thanks to the neutrality of the black box and its full technical equipment.
Theatre interior design at such a small scale shows that a small shop in the city can take on a cultural use when the layout derives from the shell itself. A similar approach, starting from the existing shell of a shop, was followed in the interior design for Epàrchîa Design Boîte in Kavala. For a project in a shop or a cultural venue, contact details are on the office's contact page.
