Madrid's oldest theater belongs to the Town Hall. It holds up to 733 spectators and specializes in staging works by Spain's major classical, romantic, and contemporary dramatists. The building has a neoclassical façade featuring impressive windows, pillars, and busts of famous playwrights. You'll find it on busy Plaza de Santa Ana.
Madrid's Teatro Real is an Opera House which has one of the largest stages in the world and seats up to 1746 spectators. Its annual program features the whole range of operatic styles and genres from the baroque to the contemporary, including the ever-popular works of composers like Mozart, Rossini, Verdi, and Wagner. It also hosts lyric concerts and dance performances. You'll find it close to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace). Tickets are hard to come by, so book early.
Built in 1856 in the same style as La Scala in Milan, this grand theater is dedicated to a particularly Spanish form of 17th-century light opera called zarzuela that includes spoken as well as sung parts. It's also used for performances of classical opera, dance, and concerts. At Christmas time the Spanish National Ballet Company presents their new work here to expectant audiences. The traditional semicircular seating area has three galleries with private boxes and holds up to 1259 spectators.
As headquarters of the National Drama Centre, this theater concentrates on promoting the work of young playwrights. The building itself is a fine example of early cast-iron architecture with a classical façade and a neomudéjar-style interior. It opened as a theater in 1885, equipped to hold 750 spectators. The great actress María Guerrero made her debut here, and later bought it. Since her death it has been in the hands of the state. You'll find it in the city center, close to both the Archaeology Museum and the Wax Museum.
Supported and promoted by Madrid's city hall, Teatro Circo is not your typical circus. This venue is a large cultural contributor to the city by providing concerts, theater, workshops, fashion shows and school activities, among many other events besides a circus. The exposition hall can seat up to 1856 people, and in the future, the endeavor to develop a documentation center and circus school is another service that this spectacular space hopes to offer.