Polanentheater: Theatre in Spaarndammerbuurt, Amsterdam

★★★★★ 4.2

The Polanentheater is a small, unsubsidised theatre on the Polanenstraat in the Spaarndammerbuurt in Amsterdam-West, with a 90-seat hall, six studios and a foyer. Go to see amateur companies and professional groups up close, from musical societies to English-language drama, in a room with a stage of 7.5 by 8 metres. The building began as part of a complex with a Reformed school and housing, built in 1921-22 to designs by Tj. Kuipers and A.U. Ingwersen; a gable stone still recalls the school. After it closed around 1966 it became the Spaarndam neighbourhood centre, with a stage that hosted the Fusion theatre festival. The name Polanen-Theater dates from a 1971 anniversary season and stuck. The district closed the theatre in 1995, and it carried on without subsidy. Peter Lakke and Edwin van Veen own it now. On weekdays clubs and courses use the studios, and many companies rehearse and build productions here. It became a municipal monument in 2008, and the foyer serves rolls, soup and snacks. You can reserve a bite to eat before the show on performance dates through the website. For the same day that works until 15:00, after which you phone the theatre. Bus 22 or 48 from Amsterdam Centraal stops at Spaarndammerstraat, from where you walk down the Hembrugstraat and take the second street on the left. Street parking in this area is paid, from Monday to Saturday between 09:00 and midnight, and on Sunday from 12:00.