National Theatre Košice
Neo-Baroque theatre on Košice's main street, with resident opera, ballet and drama companies.
The theatre occupies the centre of Hlavná ulica, the long spindle-shaped main square of Košice. An earlier civic theatre of 1789 stood on the site until it was demolished as unsafe, and the present building was raised between 1897 and 1899 to designs by the Budapest architect Adolf Lang. It is an eclectic Neo-Baroque composition with a domed central mass, sculpted allegorical figures and a richly decorated auditorium; the ceiling fresco shows scenes from four Shakespeare plays.
The house is run as a three-ensemble repertory theatre, with separate opera, ballet and drama companies whose work alternates through the week. Opera has been performed here since 1945, and the drama company also uses a studio stage, the Malá scéna, a short walk away. The building was restored in the 1990s and again before Košice served as European Capital of Culture in 2013. The Singing Fountain of 1986 stands directly in front of the main facade.
Highlights
- Auditorium ceiling fresco of scenes from four Shakespeare plays
- Resident opera, ballet and drama ensembles in repertory
- Neo-Baroque facade of 1899 by architect Adolf Lang
- Singing Fountain on the square in front of the theatre
