Debrecen4U October 31, 2025

The new director of the Csokonai Theater shares insights on his appointment, upcoming performances and future developments

Based on the decision of the city council on Thursday, Dániel Vadász became the director of the Csokonai National Theatre. As the proposal revealed, his application was unanimously supported by the professional committee consisting of members delegated by the city, the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, the Theatre Arts Committee, and the Csokonai Theatre. His appointment is for five years, from November 1, 2025, to October 31, 2030. The new director gave an exclusive interview as a guest of the program Debrecen Evening Close-up.

As he said, there is a great atmosphere of happiness and excitement. “The kind of respect I feel for the city and its citizens motivated me to apply for this position,” he emphasized, adding that the task ahead is significant. He noted that a theater is not merely an event-organizing center but must also play a vital role in supporting people intellectually, morally, and emotionally.

Dániel Adász noted that Debrecen is on a strong economic trajectory, and part of its development is reflected in the fact that the city now boasts not just one, but five theater venues. 

“Filling these with content so that they can be of interest and love to the city’s citizens is a real challenge. There are plenty of challenges anyway: in addition to meeting the expected audience numbers, the profession also has to meet them, but theaters also have to be able to compete with the accelerated media world rich in streaming service providers. The work of a theater is best characterized by what “titles” it will play and with whom. I am starting my operation by establishing an arts council, whose members I think of with great pride,” he explained.

The council will include Tamás Juronics, Kossuth Prize-winning Hungarian dancer, choreographer, and theater director, who will join the council and is expected to play a key role in major musical theater productions; Gábor Tompa, director and chief director of the Cluj-Napoca State Hungarian Theatre and president of the European Theatre Union (with him they dreamed up a Falstaff for the end of the season); Russian-Latvian theatre director Ilja Bocsarnikovsz; conductor Dániel Somogyi-Tóth, chief music director of Debrecen; ballet dancer Edit Domoszlai, head of the theatre’s contemporary ballet company; and Mexican opera singer Ramón Vargas, tenor. They are working with the latter on a joint opera studio programme, in close cooperation with the full-time and postgraduate departments of the University of Debrecen, in a training programme that is unique in the world. The council will also include Lóránt Bocskor-Salló, who currently holds the position of deputy director at the Csokonai Theatre.

“If someone envisions the regular presence of the aforementioned directors, it will help define a distinct formal language and value framework. Over the next year or two, we will focus on landmark works by renowned authors. Productions of Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, as well as celebrated operettas and operas, will be staged to engage a wide and diverse audience,” he stressed.

In addition to the timlesss classics, however, he is also looking for titles known from contemporary literature or even from compulsory reading.

“It gives me great pleasure that next week we will sign the contract for the Italian premiere of the musical adaptation of Pál utcai fiúk (The Boys on Paul Street), so a kind of guest performance will also begin,” he said.

Puccini’s timeless classic Madama Butterfly and Bánk Bán have already been included in the program, though according to the new director, they are approaching prose plays with more caution.

Program and what is behind it

Dániel Vadász, as a former singer, lawyer, and businessman, has tried his hand at various classical music productions. He has organized cultural events in more than 20 countries, and he would like to put these experiences to use in the service of the theater.

“We will offer unconventional literature and music classes, along with engaging opera introduction sessions. We have already launched a Csokonai Magazine, but we also plan to independently launch video series on various social media platforms about the Csokonai Theater and its institutional relations. We are also discussing several television collaborations with the public media,” he pointed out.

So there can be no complaints about the planned content. At the end of the day, the theater ticket itself is the final product—one that must compete with concert tickets sold simultaneously in the city. This makes the development of their own ticketing system, along with tailored marketing campaigns and strategies, a key priority. While modernization is essential, it must never come at the expense of performance quality.

“I still begin my workdays with a sense of reverence,” he remarked. “This is a true calling—one that demands quality work and performances we can all stand behind with moral responsibility,” he added, reflecting on how seriously he takes his role at the place where he first walked through the door in the early 1990s.

Finally, the new director also touched on the company. He feels that they have a very valuable community. That principle believes that colleagues who do not carry out their tasks directly on stage are just as much a part of the ensemble. He sees a warm, dynamic collaboration among the members.

Source:dehir.hu | Photo credit:debrecen.hu