- Place
- Alytus City Municipality
- Region
- Dzūkija
- Type
- municipal professional drama theatre in a theatre palace designed by Saulius Juškys
- Address
- 2 Rotušės Square, Alytus
- Coordinates
- 54.39649, 24.04660
- Visit duration
- 15-25 minutes for the exterior; 1.5-3 hours for a performance or event; according to the selected education programme
- Best time
- according to the official programme; arrive at least 30 minutes before an event and recheck box-office and repair information on the day
Alytaus teatras, AMT, Alytaus miesto teatras AMT, Alytus Theatre
A working municipal theatre, not an architectural museum open every day
Alytus City Theatre operates at 2 Rotušės Square, on the western side of the square. It is an Alytus City Municipality budgetary institution that creates and publicly presents professional performing arts. The coordinates 54.3964937, 24.0466031 mark the theatre building as a whole and are not presented as a surveyed centre point of a particular doorway.
The building hosts productions by the resident company, visiting theatres, concerts, festival events, education programmes and exhibitions. An event advertised as taking place at Alytus City Theatre therefore does not always feature the resident company. Alytus Cultural Centre, Dainava Cinema and the Aitvaras puppet theatre are likewise separate institutions or companies, even when they appear in the same city events calendar.
The exterior and its relationship with Rotušės Square can be seen at any time, but the foyer, galleries and auditoriums are not a permanent free exhibition. The reliable way to enter is to choose a particular performance, guest event, education programme or specially announced theatre experience.
From the 1988 decision and a basement studio to the Alytus City Theatre name
The official history begins in 1988, when the municipality and cultural workers decided to establish a professional theatre in Alytus. Young directors Dalia Kimantaitė and Arvydas Kinderis were invited in 1989, and Loreta Liausaitė joined them in 1990. This was not yet a professional acting company settled in the present palace.
The first production, based on Oscar Milosz's tale The Emperor John the Heartless, was created in the basement of a five-storey residential block and first shown at a puppet-theatre festival in Kaunas. Alytus municipality counts the theatre's anniversaries from this 1990 premiere. In the early years the studio trained future performers, created puppet, choreographic and drama works, and organised creative camps.
In 1996 the theatre-studio moved into new premises on Rotušės Square and became Alytus City Theatre. A dedicated acting course was assembled for it at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in 1999, and nine professional actors joined the company in 2003. These milestones separate the early studio, the present institutional name and the strengthening of the professional company from the construction phases of the building itself.
Saulius Juškys's theatre palace was built and fitted out in stages
Sources describe different stages in the building's chronology. Alytus municipality says the theatre was already rising in 1990, while the Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia dates the theatre palace to 1995-2008 and names Saulius Juškys as its architect. Juškys also designed the adjacent 1989 municipal building. The company moved in during 1996, before the end date given by the encyclopedia, so reducing the whole complex to one simple opening date would be misleading.
From Rotušės Square the palace is recognisable by its massive grey volumes, the higher vertically ribbed stage block, the broad black-framed glazing of the foyer, white supports and a curved metal canopy suspended above the main entrance. Broad steps rise to the doors. In 2018 an exterior sign called Gyvai, designed by Laimis Kaziukonis, was installed on the facade; its projecting letters cast a second, changing version of the theatre's name in sunlight.
The present Great Hall has 506 seats, and its stage is 14.45 metres high, 10.22 metres wide and 15.14 metres deep. The Small Hall seats 175; its stage is 4.3 metres high, 11.5 metres wide and 9 metres deep. The Great Gallery covers 356 square metres and includes a 500-place cloakroom, while both levels of the Small Gallery are used for exhibitions.
Resident company, visiting events, COM MEDIA and education
Alytus City Theatre is more than a hall operator. It creates its own repertoire for children, young people and adults, tours, invites artists from Lithuania and abroad, and produces performing-arts projects. Individual productions, directors, venues and age guidance change, however, so the company's current work should be judged from the selected season's programme rather than an old list of premieres.
The theatre began the professional-theatre festival Long Live Comedy! in 2011, and in 2017 it developed into the international COM MEDIA festival. Programmes for children, young people and night-time theatre events have accompanied the main festival in different years, but their dates and formats are not a permanent weekly programme.
The official education list includes acting, stage make-up, speech, sound and lighting programmes for different age groups. Most require advance group booking and have their own price, duration and age range. They are a more dependable way to explore theatre-making outside a performance than expecting unrestricted access to the backstage areas.
Programme, tickets, box office and the limits of tours
There is no single general-admission theatre ticket. The individual event page gives the price, hall, duration, age guidance, organiser and sales platform. Productions by the resident company and visiting events may use different ticket systems, so buy through the link in the theatre's official programme. An electronic ticket can be shown on a phone, and doors normally open 30 minutes before the start.
On 15 July 2026 the theatre's FAQ and Contact pages listed box-office hours as Tuesday to Friday, 11:00-13:00 and 14:00-18:00, plus one hour before an event on otherwise closed days. A separate ticket-purchase page still gave broader daily hours, so call before making a special trip to the box office. Ticket prices and concessions should likewise be rechecked on the selected event page.
No permanent daily tour of the building appeared in the official 2026 visitor menu. Theatrical tours and backstage experiences appear at particular festivals or special events, while education programmes are booked in advance. If you want to see more than the foyer and auditorium, ask the theatre about a particular date and do not treat a past EXKursas event as a continuously available service.
Accessibility, repair work in 2026 and the exact Google Maps card
Wheelchair users reach the Great Hall through the central entrance at 2 Rotušės Square using the ramp from the Pulko Street side. Two places are designated in the stalls, and larger requirements should be arranged in advance. The Small Hall is reached through its main ground-floor doors and the Great Gallery is also accessible. The upper floor of the Small Gallery cannot be reached independently by wheelchair, although staff offer assistance by prior arrangement.
The Alytus municipal director's diary for 1 July 2026 recorded an inspection of repair work at the theatre, but the public entry did not define the scope or announce a complete closure. The existence of work should therefore not be turned into an unsupported claim that the theatre is closed, but visitors should recheck the venue, entrance and any temporary restrictions on the official event page.
The exact Google Maps card is named Alytaus miesto teatras AMT and marks the building at 2 Rotušės Square, not Alytus Cultural Centre or Dainava Cinema. On 15 July 2026 it was rated 4.7 out of 5 and had Place ID ChIJ289VtVqx4EYRhj8OCe81HWA. No review count is fixed here because it changes continuously.
