“Theatre – A common voice, different paths? Shared space, shared future, theatre above all” – this was the motto of the National Theatre Season Opening, hosted this year by Debrecen. At the event, it was announced that the Csokonai National Theatre had become the first cultural strategic institution outside Budapest. According to acting director Dániel Vadász, the new status comes with additional funding, which makes it possible, among other things, to raise salaries and increase production budgets. “We will probably succeed in integrating this extra funding so that productions can gain more momentum, larger budgets, and simply become bigger in scale. Another area, which is particularly important to me, is cooperation,” said Vadász.
Mayor László Papp emphasized that the new cultural strategic status is highly inspiring, as it aligns with Debrecen’s vision of serving not only the Eastern Hungarian region but also Hungarians living beyond the country’s borders. “Debrecen is currently undergoing a scale change, and we are striving to embark on a similar path in the field of culture. I believe that with this decision and the expanded funding opportunities, the Csokonai National Theatre of Debrecen can become a much more prominent, popular, and sought-after institution,” he stated.
Balázs Hankó, Minister for Culture and Innovation, highlighted that around 7.3 million tickets were sold for Hungarian theatre performances last year. He stressed that the government considers the support of culture a priority, as Hungarian culture transcends borders and unites the entire nation. “The Hungarian government allocates twice the average level of EU funding to Hungarian culture, and for theatre specifically, government support amounts to around 15,000 forints per ticket,” he underlined.
At the National Theatre Season Opening, Hungarian theatre professionals discussed the social role and future of theatre through performances and roundtable talks. The all-day program concludes on Wednesday evening with a gala at the Csokonai Theatre.
(debrecen.hu)
