Cornell K. Tatishchev and Aleksander Szymkiewicz, Tbilisi's Municipal Architect, designed the building on Rustaveli Avenue. Alexander Mantashev funded its construction. The article gives 1887 as the date of founding and completion, and says it was founded as an Artists' Society, not as a theatre. It was renamed the Rustaveli Theatre in 1921.
The article calls it an ornate Rococo-style edifice, though the infobox lists Baroque and Rococo. It describes a Rococo ceiling and audience boxes in the main hall. The main stage has about 800 seats, the small stage 283 and the Black Box Theatre 182. It does not describe the facade.
The lower level had frescoes by Lado Gudiashvili, David Kakabadze, Serge Sudeikin, Mose Toidze and Iracly Toidze. They were whitewashed in the Soviet period, and only a small portion has been restored. A renovation from 2002 to 2005 was largely funded by Bidzina Ivanishvili.
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