That unveiled, honest enthusiasm that is behind the identification can have direct effect on the viewers too.

Zoltán Balázs has become honest fanatic of Victor Kravchenko, of the emigrated soviet leader, who had an adventurous life. The question is, that we the viewer, how can share his unbroken enthusiasm. After three years negotiation he could get the rights of Kravchenko’s successful book, which the Maladype Theatre has already translated and published. After a long break he has made his return as an actor with the one man processing of this work, but it is not the end of the road at all. From the adapted version of this performance, there will be a performance for teenagers, where the young ones can decide during the hero’s legal action.

I admit, that I have hesitated if I can write a critic about this present performance. Its personality and accepted haphazard nature can be unusual even from the point of view of those performances of Maladype, which I have seen before. Its atmosphere makes me remember a friendly reunion, where during the drinking of wine, one of the boys starts playing the guitar. When Zoltán Balázs enters, he is surprisingly direct, he has a little chat, then with the help of the volunteer electrician, who is between the viewers, he can repair an old lamp to get more light into the room. The similar intermezzos, which can create familiar atmosphere anyway, and the one we have mentioned above, because of this almost touchable devotion towards the material, all these can make hard to write that way to criticise just the performance, and not the personality or individuality of the performer.

To get to save waters for a while: Kravchenko’s story is about the absolute belief in the Soviet Union and the communism, and then about the disappointment in it. So, the hero can get in touch with both the lowest and the highest classes too, with the help of them he can show us the whole cross-section of the society of his time, while his disillusionment is coloured by many personal anecdotes, loves, fulfilled and unfulfilled hopes. His parents are the victimized fighters for the overthrow of the regime of the tsars and for the freedom, their ideas are clean and idealistic. When Kravchenko in spite of his doubts gets into the Party, similarly to returning inner voices, they question their son – and that way the system too – because of the fulfilment of the won freedom. Anyway, Kravchenko can hold on for a while, but this persistence can be broken slowly with the general suffering and the torturing he has suffered in the show trial.

These kind of disillusionments from the Soviet regime have been interpreted many times before. The uniqueness of the performance can be found anyway in Kravchenko’s special viewpoint, in his both clever and naïve romantic honest, which is slowly turning into cunning rebellion. His consciousness is much more general, than to talk about just the critic of a disappeared system. Zoltán Balázs does not only set a memorial, however we cannot hear any reference to the actual political system, one and only direct gesture of social accountability is, when at the end of the performance we have to vote in connection with the fate of the present Russia.

His fast and playful first-person singular performance is in exciting contrast with the hero, who is shown to be serious and strong. He treats Kravchenko’s beginning naivety with understanding irony. His story-telling, easy style becomes problematic a little bit, when his hero remembers the terrible things: the state of the starving kids with their swollen stomach is terrible only on the level of words. He performs only twice with full empathy the shock: during the first serious quarrel between Kravchenko and his dad, and at the time of his release from the Soviet Union. With it he marks the two important turning points in the story.

The transformation on another level is really elemental. He summarises some points of the performance, which has two acts, and for a monodrama it is surprisingly long (the viewers can also decide which ones should be these). Anyway, when he does not remind us for it, then the change is almost unrecognisable: Kravchenko’s text and Zoltán Balázs’ compressing report are connected imperceptibly to one another. The unveiled, honest enthusiasm, which is behind the identification, can have doubtless effect on the viewers too. Maybe no better letter of recommendation is needed: a belief of a clever and talented man, that can show way to the world, which always derails.

Márton Hajnal, 7óra7, 2015

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

Two and a half-concentrated hour with Victor A. Kravchenko on the base of Maladype. In theory Zoltán Balázs is also there, who is the engine of the Kravchenko project, or its rolling mill instead, its Stakhanovite – but on the tall chair, which is a pulpit and the dock at the same time, Kravchenko himself is the one, who remembers, argues, ironizes, shows emotions, flirts with the viewers – the minimalist properties of the performance (a chair, with a little bit longer legs, as in the seemingly equal greyness of the Soviet Era, there were always some, who were more equal, and a reading lamp, its eyes hurting light gives the possibility to nightmarish associations) can fascinate us. It is authentic and unreliable at the same time, the Soviet functionary one, who protects and charges himself at the same time, he is the great survival and the one who experiences all these, who at the turning point of his story, in the WC of the ugly workers’ hostel, flushes the torn photo of Stalin, he is the sale-made-brand, who shows himself to the American viewers, he is the tovaris Quijote, who has a tragic fate, who in spite of all these, can keep his socialist, rebellious belief till the end. And here is the crosstalk of course – the banal everyday life of a dictatorship. It is not about the “big deals”, the “big fear” – the tiny terrors and compromises, the hopelessness and teeth grinding resignation that fill everything. That how petty the great robbers are. That how musty, suffocating the cloisters and tiny towers of a castle of a robber (of a Castle) can be.

At the end Kravchenko (Zoltán Balázs?) scandals together with the viewers: without a democratic Russia it is not possible to have peace on earth. About thirty-forty people are sitting on the uncomfortable folding chairs in a pure “civilian” living room in the centre of the town (in the hall of a Soviet court? in the lecture hall of a little American town? in some kind of Purgatory outside the place and time? on here and now, in the theatre of a little Eastern-European country, which is falling into dictatorship?), and they demand democracy, freedom for Russia? For us? Is it a gesture? Is it a message?

I do not scandal. I think, I have never wanted to scandal any more. I hope, I will not scandal any more. But Kravchenko (Zoltán Balázs?) fascinates me again.

There is fog outside. In the East Station soldiers are walking up and down. Our train leaves on time. This latest one, I almost feel dissonant, a kind of V-effect by Brecht. It is not the reality.

Péter Konok, 2015

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

Victor Kravchenko admired his dad as a child, who stood as a leader of strikes at the head of the workers during the revolution of 1905. He himself, became a worker of metal factory, he was lifted from there, after the Revolution of October by a still honestly enthusiastic communist veteran. He studied to become an engineer, he became a leader, the proletarian existence was changed by the luxury of the five room of the upper-middle-class, with the always full fridge. During the famine in Ukraine, he got away the farmers’ grains till the last seed as a worker of the party, he could see the children, who are skin and bones, but his ideological belief made him blind. He saw the people’s poverty, which is deeper than in the times of tsars was, the unrestrained dictatorship of chinovniks and cadres, but the success of his work could make him forget about everything.

From Kravchenko’s 807 pages long autobiography Zoltán Balázs chose the most characteristic parts, he pushed into our face with wild passion the shocking facts. He speaks fast, he is almost blown up by anger and bitterness. Because, under the self-deluded sentences the doubt can also be found, we cannot brush aside the old real Bolsheviks’, so his father’s warning words. The show trials have begun, they execute one by one the leaders of the revolution, Stalin builds his horrific empire on the newest young cadres. Everybody is informer, because of the wish of career or of force, it turns out to be true about his lover, and all the second people are in his surroundings. His great ideal, Bukharin, who has a human face, also admits, that he is the agent of the imperialists, he is a spy and traitor. It is Kravchenko’s turn, during eighteen months /!!!/ he is interrogated every day, he is tortured, tormented, he survives it with some kind of success from above, but his blind belief has been shaken.

The horrible flow of dreadful things Zoltán Balázs’ direct comments, sudden stops can ease, he looks at us, he asks, some parts he sums up in a shorter version, he does not lose neither for a moment the live connection with the viewers. It is necessary very much: the lights of interrogation of NKVD and ÁVH can break our arrogant resistance, we are almost broken by the frightening atmosphere of vulnerable fears. It is similar to which we could feel during the reading of the book, of the Darkness at noon, but here and now we face up with the confession of a “free” elite man, who works as an industrial leader. The conspiration with Hitler, the Finnish war, the final strike is the annexation of the half of Poland and the Baltics, our hero does not fight any more for the Soviet System, he protects his home land, his nation. When he is sent to a further training, so to spy on to the USA, he states that he chooses freedom.

His book was published in America in 1946. Then we still loved the Soviet Union that could defeat the Nazis, it could not appear then, it was put on index, so we can know it now, seventy years later. It must be read, the Maladype has published it, unfortunately it is an actual warning too: some phenomenon is similar to the formatting system of our present.

Zoltán Balázs’ heroic trial to find the book, to put it on stage, his enchantingly suggestive performance is one of the most important theatrical-social events of the season.

White Elephant, Kulturális Ajánló, 2015

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

A man is sitting in front of fifty and he is reading up for two and half an hour. This statement is true that way, that it is not true: in front of Zoltán Balázs there is a thick package of papers, sometimes he turns the pages, but he tells all of them by heart. Sometimes he improvises, condenses, creates shocking and memorable moments, overwhelming stupidities and heart-breaking stories come one after another. The viewers feel awkward because of it, they are moving on the chairs, then they get into again and again the Soviet Union of the 1930s and 1940s. The viewers of the new performance of Maladype can be part of a tiringly exciting confrontation, who can comfort themselves at the end of the performance: “at least I have read” Kravchenko’s old-new book of 1946, which was published in Hungary with a delay of seventy years – with Péter Konok’s translation, and the publishing of the troupe. While they are going home, they enter a pub and philosophise about the fact, that how adequate a not reading evening can be – then the next day they cannot put the book down. The disturbing stresses of the performance, which has burnt into their mind, are echoing in them, and the surprisingly realise, that how many important parts are missing. It is necessary as Kravchenko’s epic is 800 pages long. The later readers can think about the fate of the books again. The Soviet functionary, who “deserted” during the second world war, wrote down for nothing once – we have already known that he did it precisely – the mechanism of Socialist system, the makers of world politics thought his book to be exaggeration. It was not, it was the crystal-clear reality. The Soviet State Security that was patient in case of revenge too, in 1966 in New York – pretended to be a suicide act – shot a revolver bullet into the writer’s head.

Gábor Murányi, HVG, 2015

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

The empty flat with its three rooms can create a special theatrical atmosphere, which has become during the last seasons the home of the troupe of Maladype that is fifteen years old. The middle biggest room can serve as a place of performances with a size of a studio with the miniature auditorium (with the huge advantage of free organisation). The doors, which open to the side rooms and to the hall, offer themselves naturally as walking paths. The intimate place requires puritan performing style, and those kinds of plays and adaptations which can take into consideration eminently that the most monumental events have to be able to take place in about five times four metres. Virtue can come from need too – by the close connection with the viewers, a special and intensive theatrical experience can come possibly to live.

Viktor Kravchenko: I Chose Freedom

The flat has a role here as a place of a so called, friendly reunion, as a place of flat university – so in its own reality – the lines of chairs, which are put in order of a U shape, refer to the theatrical situation. The viewers are sitting in when Zoltán Balázs arrives; he welcomes us, takes off his coat and starts organising his things – meanwhile he is explaining the situation – it should be organised to get the light into the right height next to his text. He builds a tower on a kept piece of set – which could be seen anyway in another performance – on a furniture, from the books by Kravchenko, and finally he places the reading lamp on it. (We may think that it is a spontaneous solution which was born that evening, but we can realise: all the other performances start that way.) It is a civilian-like introduction, which serves as a basis, to make it possible for Balázs to keep the personal contact with the viewers all through the evening.

According to the preparation we can expect a reading theatre; but the line under the title refers to something else: “one-man manifesto with Zoltán Balázs’ performance”. And it is real: Balázs has selected and learnt a three-hour long material from the thick book, that way while he is telling it he can keep continuous eye contact with the viewers. However, the text is in front of him, he hardly looks into it – when he does, we can have the impression: he does it just on behalf of the form, by getting into the position of the writer, who interprets the manuscript. But he moves his seemingly never-ending set of energy not only from this point of view: work of many years can be found in it, to be able to find the place of it, to get the rights of the translation and edition, and finally the Troupe of Maladype published the book according to their own edition. According to the website of the theatre, the performance is the part of an educational programme, which has more phases, which in the future, together with experts and teachers would like to start a speech about the “case of Kravchenko”, so about “the inheritance of the totalitarian systems, about the survival of the consequences of thinking of the earlier regime, and about the discussion of these surviving tendencies”.

The writer’s work, who has been unknow in Hungary so far, appeared in America in 1946, so only some years after the English publishing of Koestler’s novel of the Darkness at noon. While Koestler’s work was published in the middle of the 80s in a Hungarian samizdat (and since then in the first publicity too) Kravchenko’s political and social historical memoir has not been translated into Hungarian so far. However, this personal report is such a shocking reading about the chasm between the attractive world of the high-level ideas and the everyday practice of Stalin era, as the world-wide famous novel is.

But who is Victor Kravchenko, whose work Zoltán Balázs interprets now? He was a faithful communist and active activist of the party from his early age (one of Stalin’s close colleague took care of his fast professional and movement promotion). The need viewing clearly and the wish of telling the truth are not those virtues, which are expected of him.

Soon he gets against the power, and he cannot be sure that the well-known NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs), would ever let him go. Then he could escape anyway, and he could find himself on important positions. When during the war, as a member of a committee was sent to the United States, he decided to leave the Soviet mission, and relied himself on “the protection of American public opinion”. During two months he wrote his book, which was sold worldwide in many million copies. (It was accepted well everywhere, even besides the Soviet Union: the French left wing – with Aragon as the leader – accused him to be a liar, according to them the lagers were just imaginations, the arrests and executions were rightful actions. There is nothing new under the sun: after the publishing of his novel, the French press of the party, called Koestler also to be an English spy, and accused him with the organisation of fascist terror groups.)

Zoltán Balázs tells the cross section of this book. He tells the sentences fast, seemingly he is always afraid of that the text is too long, and it is too tiring for the viewers – however, it is not at all. (If it can be hard for some reasons, that is that fast tempo.) The places and times get congested on one another, the personal and social events move fast; they are moving, tragic and sometimes of course – in their own tragi-grotesque way – funny too. We can see from close distance the starving ones, the poor ones but the everyday life of the aristocratic members’ of the party. We can see soldiers of the party, informers and lovers – and sometimes with the all three of them in one person. We can see situations, which has strong crosstalk with our present too.

At the end of the evening, the performer quotes the follower words of the Kravchenko book: “I dedicate this book to the progressive and social-minded people everywhere, who help in the struggle for a free democratic Russia.” Then he asks the viewers: let’s repeat the last sentence together: “Without a free democratic Russia there can be no enduring peace on earth.” It is a heavy truth. It cannot be told enough times.

Adrienne Dömötör, Criticai Lapok, 2016

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

I choose freedom: first-person singular manifesto, monologue, a human life, which after being formed in Zoltán Balázs’ artistic furnace, can captivate us with itself, it shows an exclamation mark.

It wants your ideas, it gives you the chills and digs deep into, it shows shockingly, mercilessly, it frightens us without any nice things, pulls us into the swirl, and you have only the hope that finally it will absolve you. It has effect, it gets under your skin, and it needs all your tiny parts, while you are afraid of it, again and again, that life is full of such fates and shadows. It makes you face up with and fills you, and does not only captivate you there, but does not leave you for a while.

It is a first-person singular manifesto about freedom, however here is one present time too.

Zoltán Balázs’ art is a first-person singular manifesto about courage. It is about the meaning of finding and touching the taboo, getting it, taking it, not being afraid of it, accepting it and giving it on. That way we can make it not be the past, not be able to avoid it. It is courage, it is a courageous fight with risks between white walls, while keeping eye contact with the viewers who are suspicious and who are left alone without any help, who cannot know when they enter the room, that they have got their tickets during the first moments for the rushing train, and they are on their way to the land of horrible things and their only partner is their attention. It is courage, he takes into his hand the unknown people’s fantasy, then he builds it up and with ruthless punctuality he takes them into close distance the horrible things of the soviet era. It is courage that he is not afraid of the reactions. It is courage that he accepts their looks without any protection, he tries to effect totally alone, with the pure words, and immerses into there, where the viewers hardly dare to look into. It is courage to take the risk and go into the battle to see how much can human souls handle that evening, he adapts and realises, he precisely measures the viewers, and he is stepping on their borders. It is courage, the real ancient power of the art, his talent, it is his unique sense, that he can pay attention, he can formulate, he is not afraid to get into the viewers’ head and gets ideas from there. It is courage to do it in strong light. To do it without any set, costume, in civilian. He gets into fight in a pure form, he fights with the text, the story, the past. It is courage, it is real courage, it is the origin of bravura, as the text gets into alive, as the viewers can walk on the place, as the lesson is formed with constant reflection, it is in connection with many human fates and faces up with fears and feelings. It is courage to tell a story to the others, and to do it that way. It is courage, that he is not afraid of the fact, that the length, complexity of the text, without any help can lead to the loss of attention, and it is courage to do it that way, that he can fall any time, because the viewers are searching for tricks all the time. It is courage that he hopes, that all of it has its effect, that it counts and worth to fight, because the world can be better with the help of it, that the power of art and the show of it can help. It is courage that he gets into the world of horrific things, then he gets back to the surface of water. It is courage that he does those things, which no one has dared before. It is courage to do it that way. It is courage that he performs it with that kind of empathy and touches, it is the spiritual courage of real talent, it is all, which can be done by only a real artist. Do not be afraid. Being courageously genius. Only that kind of soul has this courage, who is standing on the stage of life as a partner, because he has a power, which cannot be taken away of him, his pure, irreversible talent. It makes him free. And he will be always.

Sára Simon, 2017

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

Maladype Theatre is 25 years old

The Maladype Theatre, the Hungarian troupe that performs one of the most consistent workshop, they are searching for their way and able to renew, celebrates the twenty-five years old anniversary of its existence with a premiere, a book that deals with their career and with the foundation of an award.

On 13th November 2001 Tavaszmező Street, Budapest. By one of the longer sides of the big, rectangular room of the Roma Parliament there is a line of windows with view to the street, in front of it, by the wall there is an auditorium with two lines. In the almost empty place Gypsy and not Gypsy actors are performing Ionesco. I remember the actors even today (for example the duet of Erika Molnár and Oszkár Nyári) as well as the pot playing by Zoltán Oláh. And the fact too, that the jury of the Soros’ Studio Theatre Days accepted with such an enthusiasm the performance of Jack, or the Submission.

- the great concert of ten years anniversary of the group of the ANNA & THE BARBIES

The vision of the concert, which is directed by Zoltán Balázs is inspired by mostly the Celtic mythology and it shows us a female-centric universe. Its ceremonious nature is important from the point of view of the ceremony. Anna appears as the incarnation of Druantia [1] of the XXI. century, she has the role of the post-modern shaman woman, who is a singer and composer, she builds souls; she expresses special view of the world and structure of the values.

However, during the first part of the concert Anna appears as an idol/icon, but the concert is not a one-man show: the orchestra that is composed into the vision of the stage, is always there. The stage, which is placed on the top of the stepped pyramid is an elevated place, it is an altar of the sacrifice: the empire of the shaman woman, of the demons, and of power. On the floors of the stepped pyramid we can see the musicians, on the lowest floor, on the right hand side of the stage by director, on the stressed place according to the golden ratio – in reality on the stage of the concert – the other member of the group is standing: he is Sámuel Pásztor. The distance between the two singers, which has tension giving power is always presented: Sámuel is the permanent, sure point, Anna is the changing one, she is transforming, renewing again and again, she is the leaving and returning element: the harmony of the Sun (man) and the Noon (woman). Anna’s transformations follow the changings of the world view of humanity: the ancient, matriarchal world view is changed by the patriarchal one (into the “helmet” or an abandoned tyre a man climbs into and leaves in it); the “pagan” religion is followed by the Christian one (Márti’s song), than the human being, who pushes God from his throne (Calling All In; Just moving my legs), who has deconstructed and then again reconstructs violently the world. In the tension of falling-raising, destruction-creation, old-new, dark-light, social presence/loneliness the harmony is formed and the dynamic balance of the unity of the universe can appear.

The beginner song, the Everybody is similar in a different way, celebrates the uniqueness, and all the viewers can get the initiating ritual of the light bath. The dancers, actors, with the focused light on their faces, enter one by one: its an introductory entering, here a moving overture happens. By keeping the rules of the concert show, the main character appears later: Anna and the orchestra become totally visual during the last accord of the song, at that time all the light and attention are on them, as on the main characters. The singer, under the helmet-like protection of the black tyre, is standing on the top of the pyramid as an idol, and with her magic stick of the destroying femme fatale, who rules everything, she can create order with the pulsating feeling of pain and revenge [2] (By winking to the devil). She destroys the souls that are presented as victims without any hesitation (Who cannot step). The soul destroying system of power works on, and the victims are carried on a conveyor belt by the big mechanism – and anybody can become a victim [3], who is not grey enough and cannot connect to the system...

Getting away from the “helmet” she is acting like a shaman (Till the Last Train’s Gone, she is still an elevated, important member of the community. She still has the power, but she is without the helmet, which can raise fear. She becomes vulnerable, “a human one”, she has human feelings... The icon, which has been created to the viewers, to the community, has become vivid, becomes lifeless, who is without personality, the personality hiding behind her gets captivated by the outside image, and she feels that she has to live up to the formed picture. Her words become canon from both points of view (Spring of heather). They can win back their freedom and self-identity only with the destroying of their own icon/idol (Miss Yo), and the fall is a torturous changing, walking in hell (Cat), then a wonderful reborn too: returning, raising up in another quality (Marti’s song). It is the lived thorough and experienced moment, the praise of life, the praise of content against the form – on behalf of carpe diem.

The cloths of the idol, which has been put down, are alone, but as a frightening memento they are on the stage, up until the time, the next idol tries it on and goes away in it (Here We Are): the destruction of the old one brings the born of the new one with it, after the female idol a male one comes; in the culture the ancient point of view with the mother in the centre, is followed by the world-order with the father in the centre.

The Human being that brakes the harmony of nature and brings destruction – is shown as (mad) ruler of this world, with the appearance of the military uniform, which is worn reverse like a strait jacket, and the gas mask, during the song of Barnfield Road. The fertility dance of samba becomes a surreal, grotesque dance of death, when during the second part of the song, the gas masks, which covers the whole face, are put on the girls’ heads instead of the graceful feather decoration.

The act of tree planting and tree cutting also bring the duality of creation and destruction too. Living in harmony or disharmony with the nature is up to our personal world view; it is based on the fact, how people define their place in the universe; whether they want to become its part or (imagined) ruler? Do they want to live in the created or constructed world? Do they respect fake or real values? The canned, preserved, lifeless life that has been created by the thinking people, who rewrite the rules of nature can keep just the appearance, the form, but not the important things.

One of the possible way of the cure for the soul, from this confused, constructed world is the escape – in the vision, which is composed to the song of Far, Far Away the poetic vision of escapism appears as the magic of moving illusion: the singer is flying on the viewers of the concert towards the symbolic tiny island – she gets over the reality by the meaning of words and figuratively too – to the self-imposed exile, to the hidden deepness of soul, where strangers cannot enter.

This little “island” on the left side of the stage of the concert can be found with a few metres distance in front of it on the ring. This is the place of group, of the Airtist that is presented as a guest star: the deepness of soul, which always exists, but only rarely gets a main role, usually “watches” from the background. The ancient powers, the instincts, the empire of subconscious: the personal demons – the home of anger and anxiety; the always presented frightening of dependency. The rhythmical base of the song of Sleepless, which is presented on the stage, is presented by didgeridoo, jaw harp and beat box, by the empire of these instincts together with the feeling of co-dependency, the anxiety and the losing of love. People escape into this “Far, far away” island, from the world and from themselves. Here they can be alone with their own demons. They do not have to lie anybody for anything. They have to face up with themselves. Here the song of Sometimes can be sounded better, more painfully, with the visceral feeling of rejection and loss, with the orchestration of Airtist. The music of Airtist, which closes the first half of the concert, can express the ancient, freeing, cleaning outburst of the soul.

During the first half of the concert, the icon, the idol, the power, the inner demons, during the second one the human identity can get into the foreground: the question of identity and personal autonomy; with those values, such as the respect of the Master, the friendship, the social rite of celebration.

Human beings can get into harmony with nature, universe and themselves with the act of creation. This human creative power can appear with the planting of a tree. The tree in different cultures can stand in for the family and the personal past, and the trichotomy of the world (the empire of the dead ones, the hell/the world/the transcendent, the empire of sky). The pine of idol, the fir tree – which is planted on more floors of the stepped stage – is the tree of Druantia, of the queen of the Druids. Their symbolic planting on the stage is a kind of tribute towards Anna Pásztor’s personality and art, and these trees – by forming a small park – can give the background to the second, more personal part of the concert.

The song of I am dreaming about stars, is about the living and experiencing of the moments of self-identity, inner harmony, the common pulsation with the universe on the ‘Road of Elves’ [4]’. The song of The Coward Revolutionist is the fulfilment of punk philosophy: it is the denying of every system, convention, the freedom of lack of rules. A crowd surfing[5] is the ambivalent experiencing of perfect freedom and the perfect vulnerability, as the over colouring action of painting too.

The peak point of the concert is the song of Ánem!, which is a surreal vison: the free falling of soul, the falling into the deepness. There is nothing to hold, there is no outside world, just the desolate loneliness... lonely together. The lonely person, who burns himself slowly up alive, the slowly destroying person. The memories of lovers... The torturing pain of maybes and whys. The possibilities, which may have disappeared forever. The holders, which are disappearing while we are falling. Free fall... With all the vulnerability, uncertainty, fears, relentless one-way nature.

The closing act of the celebration is the free “outburst” with friends, guests, with the “most important” successes, which move the house, which are the essential elements of the concerts of the Anna and the Barbies: the Bunny, I solemnly promise and the extra one the Single party.

Anna Pásztor and Zoltán Balázs’ artistic meeting could form a special event of a theatre concert, in which both creators’ creative views can inspire each other, and can prevail parallel. The concert has remained dominant as a form, but the vision [6] was formed according to a conscious staging conception, and it can give a united, thematic arc to the evening and that way the event was raised to be a special, unique and real celebratory ritual.

[1] In the ancient Celtic religious world, she is the queen of the Druids; she ruled over fertility, passion, enjoyment, sexual activity, trees, care, knowledge, creativity/creative power. She is the goddess of fir tree.
[2] During the “magic verb” of the ironic “I am sorry” at the end of the song, the dancers and actors stand in a line by the footlights, and they are blowing up and down the black balloons, then at the last sound of the song, they let them away.
[3] The pink, blue, yellow coloured balloons mark the multiple nature, the ‘multiple colouring’.
[4] The popular name of Milky Way.
[5] That kind of flow on the metal, rock, punk and so on concerts, during which one person, in lying position is given on from hands to hands over the heads of the viewers, that way this person is moved from one point to the other.
[6] the place, the organisation of place, the movements, the choreographies, the costumes, the lights

ANNA & THE BARBIES group’s anniversary great concert – 14.11.2014. SYMA Events Hall

Mónika Németh, 2014

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

The practical reason of this writing is a little opera, the Great Sound in the Rush, which was written by László Sáry to Sándor Weöres’ poem, titled Topic and Variations. It was performed by the Maladype Theatre and the members of the Qaartsiluni Ensemble, with Zoltán Balázs’ staging. Its emotional reason is my individual involvement, that state of soul, which can catch people while following amazed the meeting of talents. To all of it an analysing challenge can be connected to, as also those, who often go to theatre can feel themselves dizzy a little bit after the experience, which has been shown now, and they are unconsciously whispering the line – which anyway refers to love – by Gyula Juhász: “I do not know what it is, but it is very good.”

Everything is theatre – musical theatre! The older theatre critics tell it many times, and those, who have not understood it today, would understand it later. On the same way, everything depends on the approaching and moving away, deeps and height, opposites and similarities, on turning points which die into chime or silent, on the relationships, and the living of them, as in case of music. And to talk about the most important thing, a director can be very clever, enthusiastic if he does not have any sense of rhythm, it does not matter anything. “Rhythm, you are the nanny of hearts!” – as László Nagy says it, by venerated in from of the Greek rhei (flow, flowing) and in front of the Hungarian phenomenon and the feeling of the word, which comes from it. But while in case of music the score is given, in case of dance, they have a fixed choreography, in case of theatre, we always have to start everything from the zero, taking care of the contemporary time of the play, period of time, the presented viewers’ excepted accepting abilities at the same time, than later working with the abilities of the performers, the performance can be made, as a process, which can effect in area and time, which can be fulfilled with the present viewers’ creative abilities. I can follow, how something is formed, and if we do not have the excitement of birth in the performance, it would become a museum, an operation like pottering. The experience of procedure, which works well, always starts with the rising of expectation: Oh, so this is the topic. So, we have it. Then, how can we go on? What will be? Do we go on or stay? Are we flying? Are we falling? Are we living? Are we dying?

Topic and variations

Hungarian literature has got wonderful editors from life. And during the bright decades of book publishing Illyés, István Vas, István Kormos, Pál Réz, Éva Aszódi T and many others, have taken care carefully of the arriving of the books. For one of them, for István Tótfalusi we can thank for example, that in the scale of The gems of the international literature of the Kozmosz Books, that way the volume of the Tumbling muse could be published, in which we can find Edward Lear, who was brought up on the English nonsense poetry, he is the writer of the The Hanging Tree Song, Christian Morgenstern, and Apollinaire, Eluard and the foreign Dadaists bizarre poems, next to hem Károly Sirató Tankó, Ottó Orbán, Dezsó Tandori and others’ poems, which were upside down then by many seemed to be contemporary Hungarian poets. In this collection I have met first Sándor Weöres’ poem, titled Topic and variations, which has 12 items, and seemed to be classical even then. The first line of it is:

Today is a beautiful day, a real glow, the dogs are running around the edge of the ditch,

everyone is having a wonderful time and even the police radio is playing songs.

And then is goes on like this:

Today is a beautiful glow, all the time, the edges of the pit twerk in the

running, the day is passing with songs to everyone and a

patrol car shines even in the sound.

Then the third topic is here:

Today is a beautiful romp, a whole world, the edges of the pit gleam above the

dogs, time is passing splendidly today and the radio

patrol songs are even in the sound.

Then goes on like this, similary to a hamster wheel, which is made to go around, the words are falling and circulating in it, sometimes they are standing than hanging upside down, in another nine short topics. Later – after feeling more precisely the effects of talents on one another – these lines come into my mind. For example, when I met István Bella’s (1940-2006) and the poetic group’s, named the Sevens (István Ágh, Ferenc Buda, László Kalász, Sarolta Raffai, József Ratkó, Simon Serfőző) greatest poems. The analysts write about the common verbal use of the nouns in his poems, as characteristic signs of his poetry, (for example: “the soil just would like to put into soil...). Me myself, and my students too, the teenagers, adults, university students are ready to accept these things, as we have met “dogish edges of ditches” and “songs of prison van” in case of Weöres. We use the benefits we have got. There have not been any age groups, which have not enjoyed the rustling of the lines, especially when we could tell them in choir, canon, stronger and stronger, then softer and softer, making it more interesting with the usage of crying monologues. Last time in 2000, we played with it with the members of ELTE Stage. But music, it has never been under it. Later I heard, that there was a performance, which unfortunately I did not see, but I know that in the Chamber Hall of József Katona Theatre, in April, 2004, they performed the play, the music of which was composed by Láazló Sáry, together with the composer and university teacher’s students of art, who has been admired in all his working place. In the promoting text of that performance, we could read: “those kinds of texts will be formed, which have effects not with their meaning, but with their weird associations and musicality. This musicality is fulfilled with László Sáry’s composition. There are short, singing topics: arias, duetts, quartets, choirs are coming one after another, they are connected and divided with funny interludes. The parts – with the performance of the composer – are followed by piano, the interludes, which are similar to singing-speech (Sáry calls them “text-music”) and these are followed by the actors, who play the special instruments (with tile and wood tools and so on). The 26 parts, which are composed together, is about an hour long all together.” Even then the title was given by the elevated form from the ninth speech of the verbal kaleidoscope-like basic material by Weöres: Great Sound in the Rush.

Well, during the next ten years there were great meetings of performers and adventures of productions (I will write about them later). The important thing is, that the play in its present form, with the same performing team, in the evening of the 15th July, 2015, in Szombathely can appear again in front of the viewers, during the 31st International Bartók Seminar and Festival. This time the play was performed as the co-production of the Maladype Theatre and the Qaartsiluni Ensemble, the musical director of the performance was Lajos Rozmán and the director was Zoltán Balázs. The performers perform the play besides their instruments, with different stones, teak woods and with other creative „instruments“. The performing team has not changed since then:

László Borbély – piano

Lajos Rozmán – clarinet

Anna Rákóczy – flute

Anna Petrovics – flute

László Kéringer – vocal

Ildikó Duffek – vocal

Kata Huszárik – vocal, prose

Ágota Szilágyi – vocal, prose

The backstory of the event

When in the late autumn of 2016 I met the performance on the University of Theatre and Film Art, I was not very innocent in connection with the acceptable pleasures, because of the following things: At the beginning of the 2000s, there has been a course of dramatic teacher in the Vas Street. The lessons of creative music was held in my class by László Sáry too, and “I could see happiness” (J.A.) on the face of the participants, I could listen to the practices, and I have known the first version of that little, 150 pages long book, titled Creative musical practices by László Sáry. The book, which has pictures and figures in it, first was published in 1999 and for the last time in 2010 by the Jelenkor Kiadó. The book, which has been published also in German and English languages too, can be found in Hungarian language by the most determined ones – while we are waiting for its next publishing – in libraries, but they can find information on the internet too about the most important things, if they cannot buy it anymore. So I have had some ideas, about the sounding – before the Weöres-adaptations – of the musical performance of Tyukodi pajtás, which was performed by the students of acting course, and could be connected totally to László Sáry and the students, in 1999 in the Chamber Hall of Katona. This was the performance, which Tamás Ascher simply determined as “rap of the Rákóczi era”.

But the director’s, Zoltán Balázs’ performances, which I had seen also helped me “wait”: 2003 - Michel de Ghelderode: School for Fools - Maladype Theatre, 2004 - Maurice Maeterlinck: Pelléas and Mélisande - Bárka Theatre, 2004 – Sándor Weöres: Theomachia - Maladype Theatre - Bárka Theatre, 2008 - Georg Büchner: Leonce and Léna - Maladype Theatre, 2009 – Sándor Weöres: Egg(s)Hell - Maladype Theatre. The play with “sticks”, which could show a different face every evening, in the play by Büchner, still had to serve the actions of the given play. It required huge physical strength and high-levelled improvisational knowledge from the troupe. This was that performance, where Zoltán Balázs every evening took part in as a master of the performance. The Egg(s)Hell which was memorable, because of the group of pink flamingos, which were going around in the black place – this improvisative performance of moving theatre, which used the one line long Weöres’ poem as a title. It did not have any connected story, there was not any master of it, but its always changing music, compositions of place, which were made of objects and bodies. It all had elemental effect on the viewers and on the professional ones, on the critics too: "It is secret. It is ancient. It is modern. It is old fashioned. It is childishly innocent. It is cunning in a crafty way. It is obviously simple. It is complicated like a Chinese puzzle. It cannot be understood, however it is clear, as the rising dawn by the side of the river.” Péter Gál Molnár wrote about it. “Without a concrete story it is still meaningfully epic, it is a chain of scenes, which show us the ancient forms of behaviour and relationships, its choreography is soft. It was born in the director’s, Zoltán Balázs’ head, will, nerves who is drunken by the dreamy honeys, to make the members of Maladype live, circle, fall, slide it into mud, gold, muddy-gold.” – Tamás Tarján analysed it that way. (From my colleagues’ nice reports I have learnt that the Fernando Pessoa performance (This Ancient Anxiety), which was performed in Merlin Theatre in 1999, and then the Genet performance (The Blacks) from 2004, in the Maladype Theatre, showed the sings of that typical theatrical phrasing, which has been formed by today.)

The event

And now finally I could watch it. Finally, I could listen to it. I have watched it twice. For the second time the recognised demand by the director from the warming up rehearsal, has caused familiar joy: “Do not overwrite the previous ones!”. I do not know exactly who gets these instructions, but I know the basic rules of improvisation: Which you hear first, this is the true one. We cannot argue with it, we stand into it, accept it, we may climb from it with a phrase of “yes, but”. It can be also good. But if it is possible, never tell, never show, never state that NO, do not block any intentions, because it can make the play die, give up yourself to the possibilities, lie down on the edge of the play. I am not surprised, that Zoltán Balázs ends the rehearsal with the sentences: “Well! Today the clarinet starts! Have a good journey!” In the mostly empty, black place, there are eight, round, black piano chair with metal legs together with a piano, which is put into the right hand corner. Three different sized men are presented here, one of them is in black, the other one is in white, the third one is in grey theatrical training suit, they are wearing T-shirts and soft trousers. Next to the piano there are other main instruments too, there is a clarinet and two flutes. The musical beginning changes sometimes. The introduced ones can laughingly remember that moment, when we could suddenly listen to Bartók’s Allegro barbaro, but after the shock of the surprise, the staccato parts of it, could strengthen the performing energies. After the entrance, the performers are waiting in lonely poses, in forms of statue-like groups, without any movements. There are five beautiful young women on the stage, they are bare feet too, as well as the men, but all of them are wearing silk slip with classical forms, which never show any wrinkles. On the most blonde one, there is a brown dress, on the black haired one there is an ivory dress, on the three middle ones there dresses are getting lighter, and darker, as the opposite of the colours of their own hair. They start with some kind of tiny aria. There are beeping teak woods, the pushing of chests, palms that are hit on the thighs, claps with hundreds of different soundings, smacks and cries follow and overcome the changings of places, different couples are formed, groups are made. There are meetings, approaching, growing, softening, and the tensed measuring of the possibilities of relationships happen in the place. Invited, lived through and sent feelings are on the figures. During the building of “buoy-situations”, which are used as written, tried out final words of constructing forms, plays, which has molecule-like sizes, are formed. And how interesting, that these molecular happenings are similar to chemical processes, that way new kind of qualities are formed again and again, and the multi-layered symbolic moment can show itself up to the time. That we live that way. We are that kind of people. We win and lose. In the review of the Egg(s)Hell, those ancient-forms of relationships have appeared again, which Tamás Tarján has mentioned.

The previously written and fixed composition during the performance – I cannot use a better word – get somehow laced into the space. It is an acoustic embroidery of the place, which is born here in front of us. The given sounding effects help us live through the experience of the “AS THOUGH”, the plays in the space anyway, for example the flying by blowing of the red as embers, palm sized, down of a bird, its hide or robbery, or the breath-taking building of the tower from the piano chairs and its moving, can show us the tension of tricks. As it was sentenced by so punctually by Péter Gál Molnár, with the phrase of “MAYBE” – not without any kind of perfidity – but it can bring the excitement of the circus. The vision itself can wave and click, the music is flying with it and behind it, above and under it, by a very punctual, well-trained choreography, or it is followed by the shivering of the excitement of the trick, which is born now. They put on high-heels, they ruffle their freed hair up to be high, they backcomb it, the women are going on a mission of love, they move themselves as beautiful walking birds, and by the forming of opposing lines, the place appears as the form in the folk culture of the teasing of the girls and boys. The attacking starting of the girls, with lipsticks is followed by laughing, when the boxes of the lipsticks fall onto the black ground knocking, as jumping casings. With the picture of the scootering girl the joy of childish pride of owning. The phrases of “I have, you do not, that is your way – I am sorry” – turn into physical telling of lies: “Are you flirting? You will feel sorry for it! You will give it to me!” There are bodies, souls, games, sounding and the owning of balancing states and the leaving of them, and everything has been enchanted around us. The lamp turns into a sun, the dogs are barking, then we play a funeral. Through the great amount of models of movements we can see the well-known basic and higher levelled practices of moving, it can be recognised, that they have had concentrations and practices of trust once, which can gain poetic meaning now.

All the turns are possibilities to celebrate. However, there are not any concrete sign, which would refer to it, it is very interesting, that all the tensed moments of the staging, which is surrounded by question marks, refer to an opus by Pilinszky, the Preface of which starts that way:

„A young boy and a girl are in front of the curtain. They close their eyes, they are in the time of dreams. The boy with outstretched arms touches the girl’s shoulder.

YOUNG BOY

After a long, dream like break. I have touched you.

YOUNG GIRL

You have touched me.

YOUNG BOY

The performance can be begun.

YOUNG GIRL

Without any movements. I touch you.

YOUNG BOY

You touch me....”

Who believes me? I have found only after it on pages about László Sáry’s career that the composer has a chamber opera, which was written based on the play by János Pilinszky, titled the Tableau and performed first in 1993, when – have not been able to remember the music, but think about the motifs of Zoltán Balázs’ staging – I start involuntarily murmuring the introducing lines of the dramatic dialogues, which I read once. In this rainbow-like text, by the enjoyment of rolling dogs, after the noises get silent, as the choir of those, who are standing in the middle, were rocked by moving-away ships, with the rhythm of the beating of our heart, suddenly the feeling of passing appears somehow. A rocking goodbye is being prepared, the silent, nursing letting away makes us remember one of Sándor Weöres’ greatest poems, the Bolero. And everybody can feel that this is the topic here, even those, who has never met these lines: “All of us go away, from under the rocking trees, all of us, / under the humid sky all of us go away through the steppe / under the dry sky, all of those, who are here together.../ ...all of us are going away / always in a different way, behind the stars, on the circular wall of the steppe, / all of us who are finally here together, we all go away.” But in a strange way, not the sadness of the feeling of “we have to go”, but the elevating feeling of “We have been here!” can become important during the period of saying goodbye. For the ending scene, they always get somebody involved in from the viewers, who according to their shapes, can always get the rhythm of the last moments, and by it, they can prove the power of the common experience. And the fact that meanwhile we are here – “it is a beautiful day”.

In the empire of the bright D

The opera harmonic basis of the almost one hour-long semiseria (so: half serious) is the D, one of the most general sounding of the history of music – as it is said, the “bright, light tone of the glorification” – which is sometimes appears here with a dur or moll sounding. There are arias, duets, choirs that are changing many times with the sometimes serious then funny moods. This form, the opera semiseria, which is divided from the opera seria or melodrama by the presence of basso vufo, was formed at the end of the 18th century from the opera buffo, which the performers of that time thought to be too awkward. Especially the Italians like it. Donizetti Torquato’s play the Tasso and Linda di Chamounix can be put into this line, however The Thieving Magpie by Rossini and The Sleepwalker by Bellini and the opera, Benvenuto Cellini by Berlioz can be mentioned here. Between those musical soundings, which can be connected to this present tiny opera, we must mention the work by John Cage, which was almost ten minutes long, the Living Room Music, which was born in 1940, this composition, which was written mostly on irregular “instruments” – mostly those ordinary objects that are hit, shacked – and its rhythmical, multiple sounding, text-music part, titled the Story. (Who is interested in can find it on YouTube.) In Hungary the poetical inspiration was Sándor Weöres’ long poem, the Drum and dance, which six-voice text-canon, which was written by László Sáry, even Weöres, himself had “accepted” at the beginning of 90s. And it is not an accident that from time to time Bartók’s Allegro barbaro gets into the performance, this series of variations, which were written on ostinato bass, and made up of eight beats, this way to make hurry up, this cold repetition can give the pulsation of this present play. Between the twelve parts, which are in the poem, some relaxing parts are put in seven times, which can mean relaxing moments and preparation too. To the story we must mention, that Zoltán Balázs in the Vas Street was László Sáry’s student both on the course of actor and later of the director too. First Lajos Rozmán fell in love into this composition, who is the leader of the Qaartsiluni Ensemble, who could work perfectly together with Zoltán Balázs. The Ensemble debuted in February 2012 with great success in front of the viewers of Trafó. His own defined aim in the distance and his ars poetica too, is to “make us know the composers, and artistic performers of the area of Central Europe, to form works together, to rise the feeling of being together, to get a common thinking of without borders.” The word of “qaartsiluni”, which is not a common one, in reality it is an Eskimo expression, which means some kind of waiting for a great outburst, solidarity and reckless hope. (There is not any Hungarian expression for it, but why not the Eskimos have this kind of. According to the news, they can name 41 states of the snow, they can express these with different words. For example from the “dust like” snow until the falling, mushy state, just to ask for fast help two Hungarian poets, Lajos Áprily and Attila József.) Well, this troupe is important, because however, everybody knows everybody, everybody has worked together with everybody, the idea was born in Lajos Rozmán’s head, that László Sáry’s already existed work, which has been performed by other troupe too, should be given to Zoltán Balázs, who is the leading director of Maladype. The decision was followed by great workshop, but that mental and physical effort, that way of approaching by the performers, which they needed for this task, was not far from the actors and director of Maladype, at all. This troupe, which was formed in 2001 characterize themselves that way: “This theatre, over the years, has always remained that kind of troupe, which can redefined themselves again, which by getting into new context, has been able to get new recognitions, and they handle the changing of all the time as the natural process of theatre performances. They are consciously looking for the unexpected possibilities, which are given by theatrical and non-theatrical places, the irregular artistic solutions, and those direct reactions from the viewers, which are without any traditional theatrical expectations and classical ways of behaviour.” This theatrical behaviour could be perfectly connected to the given musical challenge. Sáry’s musical offer can work as ideal theatrical base. It is similar to the best dramatic texts, in the empty places, on the places, which are left free, can be connected and grown onto the actors, or we can say, we can trust the performers with this symbolic moment, which has a big effective power, the multi layered time, as we have already mentioned it. Here everybody talks, everybody plays music, and the musicians and actors are presented in a similarly fine way, during the elegant nature of waiting, they can attack and back down with the same power in the heat of the actions. This happy work can affect viewers too. We should search the possibilities of meetings.

......................................................................

Bonus – so connected pleasures – for mathematicians

Before saying goodbye let me draw attention to an article, which analyses Sándor Weöres’ combinatorial poems and written by dr. Ernő Keszei. It is started that way: “In more Sándor Weöres’ poems can find the combinatory editing idea, so the repetition and variation of the elements of the poem – mostly of the words – according to a given rule. Between these two poems are more important, according to their length and complexity, there are the “Topic and variations” and “The cloud of the sea...”. My 11 years old daughter has drown my attention to the first poem, who – however can learn poems easily – could not learn anyway the one of “Topic and variations”, meanwhile she wanted to do it. Originally, I tried to make the learning of the poem easier by finding out its structure, but finally it turns out that in the structure there is not many that kind of regularity, which can help the learning of the poem. In this report, I would show the basic structure and the combinatory analysis of this two mentioned poems.

The structure of the “Topic and variations”

In this quoted poem the normal, smaller letters can mark the permanent parts of the poem, which divided the changing parts, while the changing parts are marked by the basic letterform. For the later, easier identification we give numbers to the lines:

Topic and variations

1 Today is a beautiful day, a real glow, the dogs are running around the edge of the ditch,

and everyone is having a wonderful time and even the police radio is playing songs.

2 Today is a beautiful glow, all the time, the edges of the pit twerk in the running,

and the day is passing with songs to everyone and a patrol car shines even in the sound.

3 Today is a beautiful romp, a whole world, the edges of the pit gleam above the dogs,

and time is passing splendidly today and the radio patrol songs are even in the sound.

4 Today is a beautiful dog, all a running around, a patrol car is singing as it passes by,

and the whole world shines brightly, sounding by the edge of the pit, and time shines brightly even from the day.

5 Today is a beautiful edge of the pit, a whole song, a splendid sound from the dogs and

and everyone is spending the day in the patrol car, even time runs with radiance.

6 Today the whole world is beautiful, everything is splendid, the patrol car races along the edge of the ditch

and the dogs shine with sounds towards time, even the day is passing with songs.

7 Today is a splendidly beautiful, all a sound, scampering through the day from the edges of the pit,

and a tempered radio patrol shines over the dogs until everyone sings about passing by.

8 Today is a beautiful passing, quite a dog, a resplendent song in the day,

everyone timing splendidly in the radio patrol, even the running around is bordering the pit with sounds.

9 Today is a beautiful time, a whole radio patrol, a splendid sound in the running

and everyone is passing dogs on the edge of the pit, until the diareia song in radiance.

10 Today is a beautiful patrol car, a real sight, it shines brightly on the splendid day

and the edges of dog pits sound as they run around, even time itself sings.

11 Today is a beautiful song, a whole edge of the pit, dogs are splendid over passing

and running with sounds the whole world shines, even the time of day is in the radio patrol.

12 Today is a beautiful sound, all day long, the song runs along the edge of the pit,

and a splendid patrol car shines in time and everyone is dancing even as they pass by.

The analyzis of the poem is easier if we use codes of numbers instead of the words. The base forms of the first line we have numbered one by one, while the bordering elements do not get any numbers, so we will not work with them later on. The words according to their codes are these:

1 = sun

2 = ray

3 = running

4 = dog

5 = roadside

6 = everybody

7 = excellent

8 = fill

9 = time

10 = patrol car

11 = song

12 = voice

Well, I do not quote more. Let’s take it all as luring. And if you have reached so far with the reading, than I thank you for your patience.

Katalin Gabnai, GRAMOFON, 2017

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)

Bartók Seminar and Festival in Szombathely – thirty-first time

After the third performance in the evenings we could not call it (simply) a concert. In it – in the coproduction of the Maladype Theatre and the Qaartsiluni Ensemble – they performed the Great Sound in Rush, the “half-serious opera” by László Sáry, which was inspired by Sándor Weöres’ poem, by the Topic and variations. And it has not only inspired László Sáry – form whom these kinds of things have not been far away even before – with the example of a combinatory play which is used consciously all through it, but we can hear those more and more surreal permutations of the text too that are in the poems, in very different kinds of realizations, during the more than one-hour long performance. Meanwhile eight performers are the singers of the Qaartsiluni, the others are the actors of Maladype, and everybody plays an instrument and sings on the one hand, and acts and dance in the other hand (then we have not talked about the acrobatic elements – an artist troupe could be the part of the performance too), that is why the music director of the musical group, Lajos Rozmán, who is the music director of the performance at the same time, while the artistic leader of the theatrical troupe, Zoltán Balázs is the director of this performance at the same time. So – which is not so unusual in case of an opera – here there is a double leading, but not exactly that way as it would happen in the opera house. It is less than this, because László Sáry is not that kind of traditional composer, who gives the score of the opera and then we can meet him at the reception after the premiere.

As many times before, Sáry has not given a fixed score into the hand of the performers, but a series of musical plays instead, and more exactly the rules of these plays, which – mostly improvisations that are combined in – and with accidental moments – and they general a kind of procedure; a circular musical story, which is edited professionally or goes on in some kind of space – the possibilities are endless. And they are endless in reality, if we take into consideration that on the stage there are permanent movements, activities, and marked conflicts, different stable and changing configurations are formed, the roles, the places and the most variable properties are continuously changing. So, the musical dimension has multiple layers on their own, it is combined with visual dimensions that are happening at the same time, without any limits, so that way all happens on behalf of Weöres.

The plays, the exercises, the polyphone musical and spatial processes are very complicated and hard many times; the performance is the result of the work of many months, and if somebody takes care only on the playfulness, on the movements, which seem to be easy and spontaneous, it can be surprising too. However, here every moment is very controlled, and they need great concentration; for some moments it becomes very obvious too, for example, when according to some order, they circle, throw up with double hand the pair of teak woods and they never let them fall down, or when for long moments, three women characters blow up again and again a colourful feather (you mustn’t touch it!) which from those situations, when it seemingly almost falls down onto the floor in a beaten situation can fly up again and again. And of course, these are just the very obvious moments, other times they have to intonate clearly or perform irregular rhythms in different physical and other kinds of positions, during complicated movements. We can feel: these challenges can make the performance vivid, the beat of them is the main joy of the performance.

All of it from many points of view widen the borders of the artistic ideas – from this point of view Sáry can always be connected to John Cage. But there is a basic constitutional difference between them: these are the discovering ways in case of Sáry – even if they are not lack of deepness, or as it is written in the programme, something is also formed, which is “heart-breaking and cathartic”. So, the playfulness is always important part of Sáry’s discovering ways, and they are always filled with the gaining of experiences, the dizzying joy of learning.

As a chronicler I have been circulating around the performance for a while, without being able to write down what is exactly happening in the really small theatrical arena. Anyway, what is happening that is so enchantingly various, unexpected, teenager like, imagined, erotic, comic, human, surprising, that it is totally impossible to show it by words in its concrete way. But I promise, that all of it is always enjoyable and we are unable to get bored with it.

There are eight absolutely substantial musicians and actors, whom we can thank for the excellent performance, they are: László Borbély, Lajos Rozmán, Anna Rákóczy, Anna Petrovics, László Kéringer, Ildikó Duffek, Kata Huszárik and Ágota Szilágyi.

János Malina, Muzsika, 2015

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)