The theatre of Jonas Záborský is the first independent building of a professional theatre in Slovakia in the 20th century. The path to its construction was extremely long and during the process the project went through many changes. In 1959, a national competition was announced for the urban and architectural solution of the new building. Among the 21 competing proposals, the jury awarded the highest place to Karol Revický and František Grobauer from Stavoprojekt Prešov. After the death of Karol Revický, the project team led by František Jesenko took over the role. The collective followed the original functionalist concept, but altered it in terms of current architectural tendencies and demands for a technical solution.
The resulting late-modern building is a landmark located on the edge of the historic core of the city. The form follows the floor plan arrangement in the shape of an elongated hexagon. The hexagonal prismatic mass on the outside, with the emerging slopped upper stage space, is the main feature of the architectural work. The inner theatre hall copies the hexagonal form of the building envelope, and the experimental studio underground also has a hexagonal shape of a smaller scale. Around the perimeter of the hall there are representational, communication and operational spaces.
The main theatre hall with a capacity of 654 seats can function in the mode of a classic, cinerama, ring or arena theatre thanks to the variable elements of a total of four stages. The most impressive element of the hall is the ceiling of the auditorium made up of curved surfaces with adjustable inclination. The lower experimental hall with a capacity of 240 seats is equally variable thanks to the hydraulic platforms of the stage and the rotating seats of the auditorium. The interior of the theatre is dominated by a combination of stone, subtle metal elements and glass filling. Among the installed art works, the most striking is the tapestry by Věruna Juneková-Melčáková in the foyer on the second above-ground floor. Exterior full-surface travertine cladding proved to be problematic in the case of the roof, and in 2006 titanium zinc sheet plates were placed over the original cladding.
author of the description: Monika Bočková
Bibliography:
JESENKO,František: Divadlo Jonáša Záborského Prešov. Košice: Východoslovenské vydavateľstvo, 1974.
CHORVÁT, Miloš: K súťaži na divadlo J. Záborského v Prešove. Projekt 1959, roč. 1, č. 11 — 12, s. 153 — 159.
KUSÝ, Martin: Divadlo Jonáša Záborského v Prešove, in: Projekt 1975, roč. 17, č. 4, s. 26 — 27
DULLA, Matúš – MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta: Architektúra Slovenska v 20. storočí. Bratislava, Slovart 2002, s. 440
MALINOVSKÝ, Viktor a kol.: Dvadsať rokov investičnej výstavby vo východoslovenskom kraji. Košice, Východoslovenské vydavateľstvo 1967. s. 403.
GREGOR, Karol: Interiéry divadla Jonáša Záborského v Prešove, in: Projekt, 1985,č. 4 — 5, s. 56 — 58.
