Theatre History Overview - Part 31 - Hungarian Theatre

It can be difficult to find information on Hungarian theatre history, but there is a little bit. While it is in Transylvania which is in Romania, in 1792, the Theatre of Cluj was founded and Transylvania was in Hungary at that time. In 1784, Joseph II decreed that the Church of Carmelites in Hungary be turned into a theatre. The theatre was opened on October 16, 1787 and it was named Castle Theatre. The first play there was Der Mönich von Berge Carmel which means The Karmel Mountain Monk.

The venue usually hosted performances given in the German language. On October 25, 1790, the first performance in the Hungarian language was given. This was by László Kelemen and his company. They produced the play Igazházi by Alois Friedrich Brühl and Kristóf Simai. Another performance in Hungarian was not given until 43 years later.

In 1833, the German tenant of the theatre went bankrupt. A playing permit was given to the drama department of Dal és Színjátszó Társaság, which means Dal Theatrical Society, otherwise referred to as the Music and Theatre Playing Company. Dal és Színjátszó Társaság was from Kassa (Kosice). Kassa agreed to keep up the building so it would be exempt from bridge and road fees. On June 7, 1833, Dal és Színjátszó Társaság held it's first performance at the theatre, directed by András Fáy and Gábor Döbrentey.

The theatre was commissioned for renovation by the city of Buda in the year 1854. Then, on February 7, 1970, the city of Buda then decided that only Hungarian theatre companies could perform at Castle Theatre.

In 1884, Castle Theatre was renovated again. By 1886, more guest performances were held there. However, during Word War I, the building was used as military storage being that theatre equipment had become obsolete. In 1918, Castle Theatre was renovated again. Smaller companies played at Castle Theatre between 1919-1924.

In 1924, Castle Theatre was closed after the gallery collapsed. All theatrical design elements were removed in 1943 becaue of fire hazards and then in 1945, a mine explosion caused the building's roof to collapse.

Castle Theatre started to be rebuilt in 1947. In 1952, the Hungarian Theatre Museum was founded. The total renovation of Castle Theatre was not done until 1978. Castle Theatre re-opened on February 13, 1978. Népszínház used Castle Theatre from 1978 to 1982. It is not certain what happened from 1982 to 2001, but in 2001, Castle Theatre started hosting the National Dance Theatre and is now more commonly known as the National Dance Theatre.

Theatre in Hungary is still strong today with both Hungarian performances and tours in different languages that come to Hungary. A collection of theatre history still happens for the museum as well.

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