The Ciróka Puppet Theatre was founded in 1957 in the Kecskemét Apprentice School, under the leadership of László Báron, an art teacher. Between 1960 and 1964 it was situated in the municipal Culture House. In 1964 it opened its doors to the Kecskemét Children's Theatre, which functioned until 1969. In January 1987 the company became an official puppet theatre with the name of Puppet Company of Katona József Theatre, Kecskemét. It became independent in August 1990, but only acquired its own building in 2001, after two years of building work. This lengthy operation has resulted in a charming building of individual character, which makes full use of fairy-tale elements, and was the first theatre in Hungary to be constructed expressly as a puppet theatre. The theatre was handed over on 28 September 2001 and the first performance took place on 6 October with the staging of László Jakob-Rumi's Snow White, based on Grimm’s tale. The main auditorium can seat 148, the small hall 66, and there is an interior open playground centrally situated in the building. The architectural planning was the work of Csaba Bozsódi, Gyula Pankotai and Tamás Venczel of the 7th Dimension Architects' Office Kft. The interior work was done by the Körtér Múzeum and the theatre technical installations by Stenger és Vajda Kft. The static work was carried out by Balogh és Társa Bt., while Thermonívó Kft. designed and executed the building machinery. Electrical work was by Lajos Sajti.