Drottningholms Slottsteater
Next door to the palace is the Drottningholm Theater, one of only a few surviving 18th-century theaters in Europe and the only one in the world still with fully functional machinery. Built for Queen Lovisa Ulrika in 1766, the theater experienced its glory days during the reign of her son, Gustav III, called the Theater King. It fell into disuse after his assassination at a masked ball in 1792 (dramatized in Verdi's opera Un Ballo in Maschera). Join a guided tour to see the original backdrops and stage machinery and some amazing 18th-century tools used to produce such special effects as wind and thunder. To get performance tickets, book well in advance at the box office; the season runs from late May to early September.
The seats are extremely hard, so take a cushion.
