The characteristic building of the State Theater stands in the heart of the square. It is built with a strong Neo-Baroque accent, and the construction dates back to 1897-1899 according to the projects of A. Lang and A. Steinhardt on the site of the former theater building, shown in the years 1788-1790. Originally, the town hall was facing the building. The interior of the theater is richly decorated with stucco finery, the viewpoint is lyre-shaped. Ceilings are illustrated with paintings with Shakespear's plays; themes, such as Othello, Midsummer Night's Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear. P. Gastgebwas the author of all those paintings.

On the main facade of the building, there is a memorial plaque dedicated to the first director of the theater after the liberation - the national artist Janek Borodáč. The plaque is the work of the academic sculptor Juraj Bartosz. At this time - during the monarchy - the theater performed only in Hungarian.

During the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Slovak National Theater from Bratislava regularly hosted here. The East Slovak National Theater began its activities in 1924, but that stopped in 1929 due to economic difficulties. The theater reopened in 1937, as a part of the Bratislava National Theater. When Hungary possessed Košice in 1938, the Slovak theater closed again. During the war, various Hungarian theater companies visited Košice. In 1945, the East Slovak National Theater was restored, with Janko Borodáč as its first director. Since 1947, the theater has been called the National Theater of Košice. In 1955 it took the status of a national theater. Since 1998, the theater has been called the State Theater of Košice.