Our present is rooted in the past
In our first column we analyse one of the most successful countryside theatre performances from the last season. The Teacher was written by Sándor Bródy in 1908, depicting the social life of Hungarian rural towns. Gábor Rusznyák directed a witty and insightful piece in Miskolc, with great actors (like Rozi Lovas, playing the main character), suggesting that moral and social mentality in Hungary has not changed that much in the last hundred years.
Our next column contains the second part of our interview from the Pécs National Theatre Festival. István Sándor L. and Balázs Perényi are discussing actors' and director's performance, and contradictions of the current Hungarian company structure. They analyse the following pieces: Sándor Bródy's The Teacher (Miskolc National Theatre, director: Gábor Rusznyák); János Mohácsi and István Mohácsi: The Imaginary Invalid based on the Moliere piece (Örkény István Theatre, director: Mohácsi János); Lace based on the novel by Angi Máté (Kolozsvár Hungarian National Theatre, director: Mezei Kinga); Áron Tamási: Singing Bird (Móricz Zsigmond Theatre, Nyíregyháza, director: Gábor Koltai M.); Georg Büchner: Woyzeck (Miskolc National Theatre, director: Béres Attila).
Our third column offers two reviews on Woyzek, another piece from Miskolc. Director Attila Béres created a cruel but poetic vision of the Büchner piece, based on a vivid concept and – even in the physical sense – outstanding actors' performance.
The National Dance Theatre moves out from its present building, as the prime minister intends to give the Budapest Castle a governmental function instead of its recent – mostly cultural – use. We interviewed director Péter Ertl on the institution's past, present and future.
The Castle Theatre was the place where the first Hungarian theatre performance took place. Mór Jókai wrote a drama for the 100th anniversary, but the director of the National Theatre found it too bitter and did not stage the piece. 91 years later, in 1981 this was the piece to open the National Theatre's Chamber Theatre (Katona József Theatre), following a 6-year reconstruction. The piece titled On Thaila's Chariot served as a professional creed, and showed how hard it has always been to be a theatre maker in Hungary.
