Csokonai National Theatre, located on Kossuth street 10., is the oldest and largest theatre in Debrecen. The building was constructed between 1861-65, based on plans by hungarian architecht Szkalnitzky Antal. The Romantic structure incorporates elements from Byzantine and Moorish architecture. The theatre opened on 1865. october 7. with Bánk bán, the famous hungarian play written by Katona József. Laborfalvi Róza, an icon of the nation's theatrical history, guest-starred as Gertrudis.
It was renamed after renowned hungarian poet, Csokonai Vitéz Mihály, in 1915 and recieved national theatre status in 2012.
Well nown stars of the country such as Blaha Lujza, Honthy Hanna, Latabár Kálmán and Csortos Gyula performed in the same building that presents most of our plays to this day. Many rising stars who started out at Csokonai Thetare, like Soós Imre, Mensáros László, Márkus László, Latinovits Zoltán or Hofi Géza built wildly successful carrers later on. The names of our season subscriptions commemorate some of the great artists who are part of our amazing and rich history.