Petőfi Theatre, Theatre in Sopron, Hungary

Petőfi Theatre stands on Petőfi tér at the southwestern edge of Sopron's old town. István Medgyaszay rebuilt it in 1909, keeping the 1840 footprint but replacing roof, stairs, boxes and balconies in reinforced concrete. The main facade ends in sgraffito and a wide cornice instead of the former classical pediment, and the four-column balcony is carried by narrow concrete elements with railings shaped into folk motifs. The 17.5 × 17.5 m auditorium has three tiers of boxes, a first-floor balcony and a gallery.

Sopron's first stone theatre opened in 1769 in a converted dry mill. The 1840 classicist building by Franz Lössl was rebuilt in 1909 by István Medgyaszay, who kept only the main walls and made the roof, stairs, boxes and balconies from reinforced concrete in six months. The city funded it with 200,000 crowns; the total cost reached 250,000.

The theatre is named after the poet and freedom fighter Sándor Petőfi. Its stage hosted a stylistically varied programme with works by Gogol, Goldoni, Ibsen, Molière, Molnár, Rolland, Shakespeare, Shaw, Sophocles, Tolstoy and Wilde. In 1937 Imre Kálmán attended a performance of his operetta A Csárdáskirálynő, in 1938 Lajos Bárdos introduced the first concert of the Eneklő Ifjúság singing movement, and in 1939 Zoltán Kodály conducted a choral concert here.

The theatre stands on Petőfi tér at the south-western edge of Sopron's historic old town, a short walk from the main square. The auditorium is reached through the entrance lobbies and staircases Medgyaszay added in front of the main façade. The building is a listed monument, so visits are tied to performances and the box office's opening hours.

The theatre's exit-door locks were patented by Medgyaszay himself: closed, they resisted break-ins and draughts, but a button in the middle opened them instantly in an emergency. The 1909 conversion cost 250,000 crowns and was carried out largely by Sopron craftsmen, finishing within the promised six months.