English

Bella Figura online premiere at Víg-STREAM-Theatre
2021. 02. 18.

Two couples and one mother-in-law. Lovers and married. A secret romantic dinner and an umpteenth birthday. The focus of the play written by Yasmina Reza is on the fascinating humor of the weekdays, the well-known absurd coincidences and the subtle net of the human relations. The online premiere of the show staged by Ferenc Török will be on the 27th of February at Víg-STREAM-Theatre starring Andrea Petrik, Patrícia Kovács, Judit Halász, András Stohl and József Wunderlich.

It is a story of an odd birthday, where not only couples do meet and are caught, but we can witness the all the twists of our human relations. Boris takes his lover out to dinner exactly to that place, where the best friend of his wife is celebrating the birthday of her mother-in-law.  How can such a night end? Champagne, sea urchin and mussels are mixed with desires, dreams and disappointments in this sad and funny play.

Yasmina Reza -of Hungarian origin on her mother’s side- is one of the most praised playwrights of France. Her theatrical works had been translated in 35 languages, her plays are premiered in the most prestigious theatres of Europe and are also played with big success in America. “My plays are always referred to as comedies, but I think they are tragedies. Funny tragedies, but tragedies.”- she was telling in a former interview. Bella Figura, published in 2015, premiered first at the Berliner Schaubühne staged by Thomas Ostermeier, in France it was directed by the playwright herself.  “If Bella Figura was music, it would be perhaps… it is hard to say, maybe fugue. The rhythm of the text is quite various. We can hear different voices in different speeds. All silence and rhythm…” – she told.

“We live our everyday lives pressed between tragedies and comedies, and maybe that’s why Yasmina Reza is so real and authentic. She is not thinking in terms of categories, but in terms of people. That is why she is so popular: she is very human. This play is a very big opportunity for all the five actors, since it is a very modern, everyday comedy, but on the finest French level. The story is almost banal, it is about an odd birthday, full of exciting turns, and as we go further in the story, more and more secrets turn out. Reality seems often surreal in the world of Bella Figura.”- points out the director of the performance, Ferenc Török.

In the story all five characters are main characters, but in the center of the play we have Andrea, performed by Andrea Petrik. “This is the first time having a role with the same name as mine. At the beginning of the rehearsals, I felt almost embarrassed by that. Andrea, as they say, is an upbeat girl. Appealing, authentic and cool. She has an addictive personality: She is addicted to the man, to the drugs, and to her own weaknesses. She fights a battle against this, but she falls. She is protected by her humor and instincts and these characteristics also help her a lot in different situations. I have many things in common with Andrea. Maybe her desire for freedom and her courage is bigger than mine. Simply, she is freer and braver. I envy her for this, but at the same time I am happy, that I am not in her place.” says Andrea Petrik. A sour-sweet comedy about our everyday life, about relationships and about precisely placed silences will be shown on the 27th of February at Víg-STREAM-Theatre.

Yasmina Reza: BELLA FIGURA

27 February 2021. 7 P.M. at Víg-STREAM-Theatre (recorded stream)

The performance is accessible from Hungary and from the countries Austria, Rumania and Slovakia.  

The author is represented by Thaleia Productions, the Hungarian premiere is happening based on contract with Theatrum Mundi Agency (Budapest).

Tickets: eszinhaz.hu/hu/eloadasok/elo/bellafigura-202102271900
Tickets for the show are available until 5.50 P.M. on the 27th of February.

Cast and more:  http://vigszinhaz.hu/english/repertoar/program.php?mid=lBf0i7oJOH2ounYeQkZgoC