The Erkel Theatre is a theatre in Budapest, Hungary. The largest theatre in the city with 1819 seats, it functioned as a secondary venue to the Hungarian State Opera House from 1951 until 2024.

Venue: Erkel Theatre
Town: Budapest, HU

The Erkel Theatre is a theatre in Budapest, Hungary. The largest theatre in the city with 1819 seats, it functioned as a secondary venue to the Hungarian State Opera House from 1951 until 2024. Since september 2025, it operates as a standalone musical theatre under the leadership of Vajk Szente, with a mission statement to become the #1 home of musicals in the country. It operates on a repertory system. With the idea of bringing opera to the masses for cheap, originally named Népopera (The People's Opera), the theatre was planned and built by the Népopera JSC (funded largely by the Budapest city council). The council provided the plot for free, but in return it regulated the theatre's operation: among other requirements, it had to employ a permanent Hungarian company, and the language of the plays had to be Hungarian. Designed by Dezső Jakab, Marcell Komor and Géza Márkus, the theatre was completed in 9 months. Equipped with modern machinery, including an organ, it had a 14-meter-wide (46 ft) and 8.5-meter-tall (28 ft) stage. The auditorium was similarly large, with a size of 40×10 meters. Intended for the working masses, the theatre was simplistic in style, except for a large mural made by Bertalan Pór. The inauguration took place on 7 December 1911. While it was home to a number of critically acclaimed and successful shows, including a season featuring the complete works of Richard Wagner, after a few years, the idea of an Opera house for the working class proved to be impossible to realize. After the start of World War I, The People's Opera was shut down in 1915. In 1917 Gábor Faludi modernized the building, reduced the number of seats to 2400, and changed the name to Városi Színház (City Theatre). For the next three decades, the theatre became home to a number of tenants and theatre companies, and with them, to a number of various genres and styles. Between 1940 and 1945 the theatre was managed directly by the city council as an art center, showing guest plays b