The theatre building is one of the most significant heritage edifices in Oradea. The project was designed by the renowned architectural firm Fellner & Helmer from Vienna, and its construction, which took only 15 months, from July 10, 1899, to October 15, 1900, was overseen by local Oradea architects Rimanoczy Kalman, Guttmann Jozsef, and Rendes Vilmos.
The exterior harmoniously combines the dominant neoclassical style with neo-Renaissance and neo-Baroque elements, while the interior finishes and decorations were notable for their strong Rococo tone.
The building was structured on three levels: hall, boxes, and balcony. The design of the auditorium prioritized perfect acoustics. Additionally, it was equipped with an orchestra pit. These unchanged characteristics make the venue an ideal space for staging theatre performances, operas, and concerts. The hall currently has a total capacity of 570 seats.
On October 9 and 10, 1927, the first Romanian theatre season in Oradea was inaugurated with performances by the Cluj National Theatre, directed by poet and playwright Victor Eftimiu.
On January 29, 1928, the "Vestul Românesc" Association was established with the primary goal of founding a permanent Romanian theatre and newspaper. Under the direction of the Central Committee of the Association, on September 18, 1928, the Vestul Românesc Theatre was born, becoming the first permanent Romanian theatre in Oradea.
The season opened on October 13, 1928, with the play Fântâna Blanduziei by Vasile Alecsandri, starring Zaharia Bârsan in the lead role. On the Oradea stage, works by renowned Romanian writers such as Mihail Sorbul, I.L. Caragiale, Lucreția Petrescu, and Octavian Goga were performed, alongside plays from the universal repertoire. The National Theatres of Cluj and Bucharest also toured with actors that delighted the local audience. At the same time, the Vestul Românesc Theatre took its performances on tours to Beiuș, Arad, Satu Mare, Baia Mare, and Carei, aiming to play a pivotal artistic role throughout the western region of the country.
From 1931, when the Vestul Românesc Association completed its challenging mission of supporting the Western Theatre, until after 1940, Oradea no longer had a permanent Romanian theatre, though it continued to host tours by theatres from Bucharest and Cluj.
After the Vienna Award of August 30, 1940, which ceded northern Transylvania to Horthy's Hungary, no Romanian-language performances were staged at the Oradea Theatre. It wasn’t until after liberation in 1944 that a workers' group founded the "Friends of the Theatre" association, intending to recreate Oradea's Romanian theatre under the old name, the Western Theatre. The Ministry of Arts supported the association's efforts, and on December 19, 1945, the hired actors, led by future director Ștefan Iordănescu, arrived in Oradea. The new season opened on the evening of January 4, 1946, with the melodrama The Beggars in Black Garments by D'Ennery and Cormon.
Though Oradea’s theatre was nationalized on April 1, 1946, alongside theatres in Timișoara, Brașov, and Galați, it continued to function as a private theatre, deprived of the governmental funding it deserved according to its new status. Due to a lack of subsidies and an interested audience, the Western Theatre operated for only two seasons before relocating to Arad in 1948. For seven years, Oradea was again left without a professional Romanian theatre.
At the beginning of 1954, actors Grigore Schițcu, C. Simionescu, Gore Teodorescu, and Maria Vasilescu were invited to the Cultural Section of the Regional People's Council to form a committee to establish a Romanian theatre section, under the leadership of Andrei Dauer. Thus, after a winding and unstable journey, the Oradea State Theatre was founded in the summer of 1955, operating ever since with two sections: the Romanian troupe (Iosif Vulcan Troupe) and the Hungarian troupe (Szigligeti Társulat).
The first play performed on November 26, 1955, under the auspices of the new theatre, was A Lost Letter by I.L. Caragiale, a successful choice both in terms of selection and staging. The audience enthusiastically welcomed the premiere, which inaugurated a new, more stable phase for Oradea's Romanian theatre.
With support from the Cultural Inspectorate and the Familia magazine, the theatre's management made the wise decision to enter the national circuit with a short theatre festival. The first edition was held from November 23 to 29, 1976, under the title "Short Theatre Week." From its inaugural edition, the festival aimed to define and demarcate this theatrical genre, while also bringing together remarkable performances and renowned directors from across the country. Starting with the sixth edition in 1984, the festival expanded into an international competition. With each passing year, the festival grew in prestige, becoming a hallmark in the national theatre landscape.
In 1978, the Oradea theatre saw a cultural and historical premiere. Under the direction of Ion Olteanu, the first-ever staging of Occisio Gregorii in Moldavia Vodae tragice expressa, the first dramatic text written in Romanian, dating from 1778, was mounted. The play was later performed in the capital, where it made such an impression that, two years later, Alexandru Tocilescu staged the same text at the Bulandra Theatre.
Over the years, Regina Maria Theatre has delighted audiences with a successful repertoire, balancing national and universal drama, and classic and modern works. Currently, the theatre boasts, in addition to the Main Hall, the Arcadia Hall (170 seats), where short plays, reading performances, poetry recitals, and experimental shows are staged.
Regina Maria Theatre takes pride in having launched great directors who later enjoyed brilliant artistic careers, such as Victor Ioan Frunză, Alexandru Darie, and Alexandru Colpacci. The Iosif Vulcan Troupe has also had the privilege, especially in recent seasons, of collaborating with renowned figures of Romanian theatre: Alexandru Dabija, Mihai Măniuțiu, Alexander Hausvater, Petru Vutcărău, Claudiu Goga, and many others.
These fruitful collaborations have brought the Oradea theatre back into the spotlight of critics, increased its audience numbers, earned two nominations at the 2006 UNITER Awards Gala, and led to participation in numerous theatre festivals both at home and abroad (South Korea, Italy, Croatia, Turkey, Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova).
Since 2011, Oradea's theatre has been reorganized and currently includes three troupes: Iosif Vulcan Troupe, Arcadia Troupe, and Crișana Professional Artistic Ensemble. In 2012, the theatre returned to the attention of the UNITER Senate with the successful show Fiddler on the Roof, which garnered two nominations: Best Scenography (Vioara Bara) and Best Supporting Actress (Ioana Dragoș Gajdo for her role as Golde).
In 2016, Regina Maria Theatre had the honor of hosting the UNITER Awards Gala, while also earning a new nomination for actor Richard Balint for Best Actor in a Leading Role (for his role as Gorge in The Ritual Slaughter of Gorge Mastromas by Dennis Kelly, directed by Bobi Pricop), as well as a special award presented by the UNITER Senate to actor Eugen Țugulea for a lifetime dedicated to theatre and poetry.
The awards and nominations continued. In 2020, actor Răzvan Vicoveanu was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the UNITER Awards Gala for his role as Joshua in Christians. In 2021, he won the UNITER Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Ivan Alexandrovich Hlestakov in The Government Inspector.
