Our National Theaters
From the beginning, the term "national" was used in the theatrical world as a distinctive adjective. Today, national theatres have a much more complex connotation. The representation of regional and national values at the highest level is central to their artistic programme. In our selection you can read about the history of the National Theatre of Pécs, the National Theatre of Győr and the National Theatre in Budapest.
From the National Theatre of Pécs to The National Theatre in Budapest
In 1880, the Pécs Theatre Committee decided to give performance opportunities exclusively to Hungarian theatre companies. This is where the adjective "national" in the name of the theatre comes from, as it was then declared that the theatre's main aim was "to promote Hungarian theatre, nationality, the use of national language and widespread cultural education". This decision marked the end of German theatre, which had a cultural history of more than 150 years in the city.
From then on, the people of Pécs had the opportunity to watch performances in the national language, but the only problem was the location, which was not ideal. The decision to build a new theatre building was taken in April 1886, after considerable procrastination, because the theatre building on the Mária Street was declared to be unsafe. Finding a suitable site for the city's new theatre was not easy. The fierce search finally ended in 1889, when an appropriate site on Király Street was found.
The necessary funds were finally secured through bank loans, and the design competition was announced in May 1890. The winners, Budapest architects Antal Steinhardt and Adolf Lang, were announced in early 1892. As Márfi writes, the designer duo were chosen because their tender "had a reduced budget'”.
Despite the city's economic difficulties, it was still dedicated to building the new theatre building, but tried to secure some of the construction costs from donations. We know that a contractor from Pécs offered 5,000 bricks, and Vilmos Zsolnay wanted to build a well in the square in front of the theatre. Nowadays this well can be found in front of the Church of the Brothers of Mercy, and not in front of the theatre building because the square would have been too narrow. The actual construction began on the 3rd of June 1893, soon after the military hospital on the site was demolished.
The building itself was built in an eclectic style and had a seating capacity of 1150, though 400 of these were standing. Certainly, at that time, it was not yet the fashion to sit in replacement chairs, therefore some people watched the plays standing. Over time, the expanding orchestra pit meant that the standing area was removed and the remaining space was replaced by movable chairs.
The opening ceremony of the theatre took place on October 5, 1895, and the Pécs Journal of the time celebrated the opening of the theatre with a special edition. On this occasion the company performed Ferenc Erkel's Bánk bán, which was a great success.
The later fate of the theatre was not so fortunate: the building, which had become unsafe, was closed in 1986 and renovation work continued until June 1991. A decade later, in the summer of 2011, the building was again in need of renovation.The reconstruction works included strengthening the balcony and replacing the completely corroded brackets. The decorative elements of the balcony were reinstalled and partially rebuilt, and the dome was also re-boarded. The theatre is still one of the jewels of Pécs.
The National Theatre of Győr
According to tradition, from the middle of the 18th century, the theatre of Győr stood on a small island in the river Rába for two centuries, at first it was made of wood, later rebuilt of brick and stone, designed by Antal Fruhmann. After some time, the theatre was no longer fit for it's purpose and the people of the town wanted a new theatre buillding.
The project had to wait until 1903, when it was proposed by the architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer. However, the hoped-for commission was not forthcoming: the city of Győr decided to put the project out to tender "with the participation of only domestic artists".
Although the renowned architect duo did not work in Győr, several theatres in other cities still stand today. Just some of the theatres they designed: The Vígszínház, the Operetta Theatre, the Katona József National Theatre in Kecskemét, the National Theatre of Szeged, the Szigligeti Theatre in Oradea, the National Theatre in Bratislava and Cluj, and the People's Theatre in Budapest.
Finally, in 1929, a tender was launched to design a new theatre, but this plan was thwarted by the economic crisis. As a temporary solution, the city's theatre company continued its activities in the community center built in the mid-1930s, and the community center was the home of the Győr theatre for almost 40 years.
The building of the theatre, which is still standing today, was designed by the Győr Design Company, by Kálmán Vincze and János Harmati as the lead architects, István Horváth was asigned for the interior design and Ferenc Filippovits for the structural engineering. The construction started in 1973 and lasted five years. The main mass of the modern-style building, with a floor area of more than 4,000 square metres, is supported by the suspended cable roof structure, which some say resembles a ski chain. An interesting feature are the works by Victor Vasarely on the north and south façades.
National Theatre (Budapest)
In 1837 the first permanent Hungarian theatre was opened in Pest, called the Hungarian Theatre of Pest. Its building today stands on Rákóczi út, then Kerepesi út. The theatre, built with public donations, is the fourth in the series of Hungarian-speaking theatres in Hungary, after Kolozsvár, Miskolc and Balatonfüred.Interestingly, a German theatre had been operating in Pest since 1812. An important change took place in 1840, when it became a national institution and continued to operate under the name of National Theatre.
In the summer of 1908 the building was declared unsafe and closed.The decision to demolish the old theatre building was taken at the same time as the decision to build a new National Theatre. Between October 1913 and March 1914, the first National Theatre building was demolished.
he National moved into the People's Theatre building on Blaha Lujza Square, designed by the aforementioned Ferdinand Fellner and Heinrich Helmer, and although it was only intended to be temporary, it remained so for over fifty years. In February 1964, the government announced that it would be demolished to make way for the construction of the underground. The last performance was held on 28 June 1964.Demolition of the theatre building began on 15 January 1965.
On 2 October 1964, the National Theatre company began its season at 22 Nagymező u. - the site of the Rádiusz Cinema, Youth Theatre and Petőfi Theatre, now the site of the Thália Theatre.
On 1 October 1966, the National Theatre moved to the rebuilt Hungarian Theatre on Hevesi Sándor Square. The National Theatre company performed in the temporary building on Hevesi Sándor Square for 34 years. Our new National Theatre finally found it's new home on the banks of the Danube on 15 March 2002.
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translated by László Gönczi
Sources:
Pécsi Szemle Pécsi Szemle, 2001 (4. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)2001 / 2. szám
Magyar Építőművészet, 1979 (28. évfolyam, 1-6. szám) 1979 / 3. szám
