A new theatre location has been set-up in the Berchtoldhouse in Bern’s neighbourhood Matte at which the theatre club Matte will start to perform its plays in the autumn of 2010.

The house was taken over by Theater Gurten in 2009 who has completely revamped the old church hall with new theatre technology.

New acoustic and optic

The new theatre hall and the stage were previously used for performances by the church. The renovation has completely changed the character of the hall as described by the actor and technical director of Theater Matte, Markus Enggist, as ‘the room needed a new face’. The stage roof has been removed. The former organ pump at the front of the stage had to give way to new light and stage direction. To improve the acoustical performance, new isolation has been added on top of the white painted roof.

The heavy looking lights in the theatre hall have been replaced with a new lighting system including nine LED-spot-lights; this allows the light operator to create fascinating coloured spaces in the room. In order to ensure longevity, only proven technology was used for the stage technology.