Szeged National Theater unveils new season with diverse lineup of performances │ Szegedify

The Szeged National Theater announced its 2025–2026 season program on Friday with an open-air musical event, highlighting a wide range of productions from opera and contemporary ballet to drama and children’s theater.

László Barnák, the theater’s director-general, said the new season will embrace genre diversity, offering musicals, plays, dance performances, and world premieres. “The theater aims to provide meaningful entertainment for every generation in the family,” said Barnák, who is also an actor and director.

The season will open at the theater’s main stage with a premiere featuring the Szeged Symphony Orchestra. Among the major new productions is Amadeus, a contemporary dance piece by the Szeged Contemporary Dance Company, choreographed by Tamás Juronics and inspired by Mozart’s romantic compositions. Subtitled Requiem for Love(Requiem a szerelemért), the performance reflects on Mozart’s relationships.

At the smaller Kisszínház venue, Péter Fábián’s The Seekers of Shelter (Oltalomkeresők) will premiere. The contemporary drama reimagines Aeschylus’ The Suppliants in the context of the European refugee crisis of the past decade. Rehearsals are underway, with the debut scheduled for mid-October.

The children’s opera Hansel and Gretel (Jancsi és Juliska) by Engelbert Humperdinck, based on the Brothers Grimm tale, will be staged by Veronika Bonecz. The production aims to captivate both young audiences and adult opera lovers.

In November, the theater will stage The Forest (Erdő), a comedy by Russian playwright Alexander Ostrovsky exploring role-playing as a life strategy, directed by Gábor M. Koltai. Also premiering in the fall is Me and My Little Brother (Én és a kisöcsém), a comic operetta by Mihály Eisemann, directed and choreographed by Attila Király.

Donizetti’s comic opera Don Pasquale, one of the most performed works in the genre, will run at the Kisszínház beginning late this year, directed by Bence Varga.

Looking ahead to 2026, the season will open with Gogol’s classic satire The Government Inspector (A revizor). Also slated is Caligula’s Governor (Caligula helytartója), a dramatic work by Hungarian playwright János Székely that explores faith, loyalty, and tyranny, directed by Péter Fábián.

In February, the theater will debut The Starry-eyed Shepherd (A csillagszemű juhász), a beloved Hungarian folk tale reimagined by Balázs Szálinger and directed by Róbert Markó.

The Szeged Contemporary Dance Company’s spring premiere will be a philosophical dance piece inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy, directed by Juronics and choreographed with contributions from Czár Gergely and two international guest artists.

Other highlights include Verdi’s Falstaff, based on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV, to be staged by Márk Tárnoki in March. Paolo Genovese’s dark comedy Perfect Strangers (Teljesen idegenek), about honesty and secrets, will be directed by Barnák.

The season will close with The Changeling (Átváltozások), a Renaissance thriller by Thomas Middleton, a contemporary of Shakespeare. The production, which blends disturbing themes with moments of dark humor, will be directed by Koltai.

Several successful productions from the current season will return, including Countess Maritza (Marica grófnő), Madama Butterfly (Pillangókisasszony), My Fair Lady, The Jungle Book (A dzsungel könyve), and The Attic (A padlás), which is approaching its 100th performance. Other returning titles include Anna Varsányi’s The Saint (A szent), Martin McDonagh’s The Lonesome West (Vaknyugat), The Door (Az ajtó, based on the novel by Magda Szabó), and the Hungarian comedy Manage Your Money Wisely! (Gazdálkodj okosan!).