Magyar

Encounter | 23rd October 2018
2018. 09. 27.

Péter Nádas—László Vidovszky
Meeting
Director: Enikő Eszenyi

"It is not the story that I am interested in in the theater. Nor am I interested in so-called ideas. That is a matter for literature and philosophy. In theater it is the system of relations emerging between live bodies that I am interested in. The image, although not in the sense of the word in which it is used in the fine arts. I am interested in the motion picture of live bodies... I tried to rely on the musical qualities of language. I wanted to create a subtle linguistic medium, in which actors are required to speak with the inner connections of their entire bodies." (Péter Nádas)

Peter Nadas’s drama trilogy, entitled Cleaning, Meeting, and Funeral, is not among the most popular works of Hungarian literature. Although in the last three decades it has received a few stagings, none of them achieved relevance. Could this be because – and this was recently claimed by the author, Peter Nadas, in an interview – they are not good enough? One thing is certain: all three dramas are rooted in the Eastern Europe of the 70s and 80s. Nevertheless, the issues raised in the texts – power, affection, love, and human relations – are definitely timeless. So why do the theatres not keep them in repertory? Probably because of the sharp, model-like situations and the reduced, though powerfully lyrical language. The dramatic texts are evidently organized like musical compositions. That is why psychological-realistic interpretations of them tend to end in failure.

With this performance we commemorate the 1956 revolution.

Pesti Theatre 23rd October 2018 7.30 pm

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