Debrecen City Council has ordered an investigation into the Csokonai Theatre
The director of the Csokonai National Theatre in Debrecen called an extraordinary company meeting for Tuesday afternoon and initiated a vote of confidence concerning his own position. Meanwhile, the municipality, which oversees the institution, has ordered an internal investigation at the theatre, the city hall’s press office reminded the public.
In its statement, the municipality said that, recently, questions and public concerns had emerged regarding the financing of the Csokonai National Theatre, its partnerships with external production companies, certain contractual relationships, and the workload of theatre employees. These issues, it said, warranted a systematic, document-based examination of the facts. The municipality has therefore ordered an internal investigation and will inform the public of its findings.
The statement added:
“The municipality expects all of its institutions, including the Csokonai Theatre, to operate transparently, with clear decision-making processes and public accountability, while at the same time fully respecting institutional autonomy.”
The municipality recalled that the theatre’s current director, Dániel Vadász, was appointed in 2025 following a unanimous decision by the professional committee and Debrecen’s municipal assembly, through a formal application process.
The director is expected to implement the objectives outlined in his application in cooperation with the theatre company, taking into account the principles of company cohesion and collaboration, the statement noted.
The municipality also pointed out that it continuously monitors the theatre’s finances and operations. According to the city, the institution’s funding is stable, and its financial management operates within predictable parameters and under the oversight of its maintaining authority.
“Through our ongoing contacts with the theatre company and its members, our municipality is aware that there are tensions within the institution. In our assessment, however, these are matters that should primarily be resolved internally, between the company and the theatre’s management.”
The statement added that, as the institution’s maintaining authority, the municipality considers it important to respect its autonomy. It therefore does not believe there is justification for anyone from outside, particularly for political reasons, to interfere in “these internal professional and organisational matters”.
At the same time, the municipality expressed hope that “the company and management will be able to resolve the issues that have arisen by making the appropriate decisions and continue the professional work whose results have also been reflected in the theatre’s attendance figures in recent times”.
The background to the controversy is that the Debrecen-based Szikra Movement has called for the resignation of the theatre’s director and deputy director. The movement alleges that “the management of the Csokonai Theatre may have been involved in making hundreds of millions of forints in public funds disappear”, and maintains that “the city leadership is also responsible”.
As our publication previously reported, Szikra forwarded the information it had gathered to officials at the Ministry of Culture, as well as to Debrecen’s mayor, chief clerk and deputy mayor responsible for cultural affairs.
Among other things, the movement questioned how the HUF 200 million grant awarded through the National Cultural Fund’s application process had been used, and also criticised the theatre’s financial management.
Citing figures in the 2026 budget, Szikra representatives said that no funds had been allocated for cultural-sector overtime, despite the institution staging 14 premieres per season and carrying out numerous other duties.
According to their claims, “there have previously been instances in which employees received their overtime payments up to two months late, and inaccuracies also occurred in the payments”.
They argued that the uncertain working conditions and employee feedback provided further justification for a comprehensive investigation into the institution’s operations.
As previously reported:
Enikő Tompa is calling for the resignation of the director of the Csokonai Theatre