I'm still surprised by the Russian roulette nature of the independent theater
Although recently we regularly hear bad news about independent theaters: unpaid subsidies, severely reduced amounts and a showdown with them in the new performing arts law, Maladype is still preparing for a celebration. The company was brought together ten years ago by Ionesco's play Jack; since then, critics sometimes refer to them as a high school of acting, or as a theater of pleasure, and sometimes as a self-righteous and excessively norm-breaking group. There is no doubt about one thing: Maladype has earned an unquestionable place in domestic and international theater with its unusual formal features and unique vision. On November 19, they will be greeted by the entire theater profession, from A to Z, from permanent theaters to alternative theaters, as part of a gala show. In connection with the anniversary, we spoke with Zoltán Balázs Nádasdy Kálmán, Jászai Mari and Őze Lajos award-winning director and artistic director.
- Maladype’s (Encounters) forerunner was the Vareso Aver troupe, made up of Gipsy and non-Gipsy members, who contracted for a single performance in a brave and free adventure (Blood wedding, directed by Zoltán Lendvai). Would anyone have thought then that it would become an officially registered theater?
- I wasn't even in the picture, but the Serbian producer Dragan Ristic wanted a piece that wasn't so folklore-based. He was looking for a director who could make theater in Gypsy and Hungarian, with a mix of professionals and amateurs, but everyone said no. They recommended me as a mentally ill guy who would accept it. At the time, I was commuting between France and Hungary and I had the desire for adventure. It was also known about the play (Ionesco: Jack, or the Submission) that it had already failed everywhere, so it was doomed from the start. In my concept, the Gipsy family spoke the Lovári language all the time and only switched to Hungarian when the Hungarian family got involved in the play, and at the end the two got mixed up. People loved it. The freedom of "why not" gave everyone such energy and faith that our eponymous performance was born.
- Then with the next one, (Ghelderode: The School for Fools), which is also a symbol-laden, surrealist material, you took a risk again.
- In that case, we also did not want to illustrate the written material. Erika Molnár, who played Galgüt, spoke three languages, the fools were Gypsies, but they had to speak Latin and they were trained for the highest etiquette, their original identity was terribly suppressed, which then exploded on stage. Here we asked: is there art, is there a single answer, path, form and content.
- And there is?
- There is no answer. I brought a gift, and I didn't: take it if you know, that's what art is about. Somewhere halfway between the two performances, we realized that we really had met each other. A normal person does not become a company leader, especially not so consciously. If the community is good and people are happy to talk about something in it and take risks, then it is worth doing.
- At that time, you were already an actor and director at Bárka, you could have followed this path as well.
- Yes, I already prepared Theomachia and The Blacks, but I felt that these people should not only be kept, but also developed. Many people have already joined us here. (Artúr Kálid, Éva Bakos, Kristóf Horváth, Balázs Dévai, Nóra Parti) Maladype was just a side activity for everyone, the scenes were made during nights, in stolen times, like partisan actions. On our way, The Blacks meant the combination of instinct and consciousness: a metacommunicative world and a system of signs that is understandable to the spectator, but also transports him into the world of ceremony, like at mass, where he is not impressed by what happens, but by how it happens. We invited opera singers who lent their voices live to the gaping actor. Many people could not put this anywhere, because they thought I had crossed a line.
- You also played in Bárka. You are headstrong, you can be yourself almost only in your own coordinates and ideas, yet you had to let roles be assigned to you. Did you meet the expectations of others?
- I don't think I could do them well. For example, I was a horrible Romeo. The only role I could do well: Hamlet. In Hamlet, my coordinated side was paired with a very free, very rebellious side of me. But I wasn't an actor there either, I tried to represent Hamlet's problem as Zoltán Balázs. It happened that during the fifth monologue I was very tired, I felt that I could not continue the play and that I needed a little break. The other me said that this is why they are paying me and waiting for the effect. Then, while they were fighting with each other, I told 350 people in the auditorium that I would like two minutes because I was tired. There was a great silence, and then I slowly started to piece together the monologue word by word. The audience applauded - they felt that the theater had been destroyed and I was just one of them - but the actors were shocked that such a thing could not be done. It was an important discovery that man dares to allow himself errors.
- At the age of six, you left home with a suitcase and ran after a traveling circus because you wanted to play. Then you became an actor and director because you still wanted to act. In managing a troupe, especially in today's situation, what is the game for you?
- I'm still surprised by the Russian roulette nature of the independent theater, they still haven't fired the bullet that's in the gun, but they'll, I'm sure. To this day, I have so many questions to ask, but I can't answer them until I get to the end. Doing is always more valuable than thinking about whether to do. I'd rather make a decision and then close my eyes or ears so we can sense it. I know that one day it will end and there is a performance at the end that I want to do, but there are still many things to go through.
- They are trying to shorten this path for you now. The performing arts law, which came into effect in 2013, has already been adopted, where you, the independents who have been highlighted so far, are classified into a practically non-existent third category after the national and permanent theaters, along with about three hundred others. As a company leader, you have to plan ahead. What will you do if this happens?
- You have to think ahead and move forward even in such a situation. I want to live and work in this country and preferably in the quality that they expect and are used to from us. If we can't get into a situation at home that matches our talent, knowledge and years of proven experience, then we will have no choice but to leave, because I don't want to and I can't work in an unworthy situation. I should be primarily concerned with the direction, the plays and the development of my actors, not with fighting in Orwellian conditions and making my voice heard.
- Are there any set-in-stone principles within the troupe?
- We don't lie to each other and to the spectator. Of course, we also have disagreements, age group and taste tensions, but the spirit is the same. It is very important for the troupe leader to be dominant, but he cannot dominate the troupe or impose his palm on the personalities of his actors, because then there will not be free, powerful and fresh people who are burning with being themselves. Here at the Base, we play in an intimate space and I have human actors. Everyone forgets that he was first a man, then he became an actor. With us, the spectators stay here even after the performance, we talk to them. We get tired if we are not being asked. I want to know what they take home: if they tell me, I get it.
- However, not many people could handle this pace. From the initial company, only Kamilla Fátyol is with you.
- Yes, what we do is not necessarily actor-friendly in the classical sense of the word, but if someone crosses this certain border, where there are no guarantees and safety limits, then it is a great experience and a great happiness. The actor reaches areas that he would never reach on his own. There is no recipe for who does it and why, but one's own responsibility cannot be avoided. You have to believe that something can happen to you here, and if it can, it will.
- Most independent theaters define themselves along contemporary lines. In comparison, you play real classics, you didn't write any pieces yourself. What determines the choice of pieces?
- I am not attracted to contemporary dramas, for me the theme is also contemporary in Don Carlos, I would like to approach the realization in a "contemporary" way. I think of the theater as much more elevated, more distant, to which signs and codes lead, it cannot be offered on a tray, because then the interest of those who come here will be destroyed. I want to surprise the spectator, but I won't surprise them because a sentence or a situation will be familiar. For me, the actor determines the play, if I don't have an actor who is suitable for the task, then I don't do that play, even though I have a list in my head of the order of the plays.
- You already have many invitations abroad. You just came home from Poland, then went to Romania and Transylvania, and then to Vienna, almost within two weeks. Did you have to push and lobby for the invitations at the beginning, or did it come naturally?
- Eight years ago, the contemporary drama festival featured The Blacks and Theomachia at the same time. They called me back then, but we didn't go because we weren't there yet. I still had to find the most ideal medium material, who are able to maintain a repertoire, operate in such an environment and do not hesitate to operate their nervous system, I’ve been having this for four years.
- How did you get Mari Töröcsik, the Actress of the Nation to "play" with you in The Marriage of Figaro?
- Do you think she would be here if she didn't want to? She is simply curious about who she is and who else she can be. I don't think I can describe the development history of Maladype more absurdly than the fact that Mari Törőcsik rehearses and plays with us in an apartment theater in the eighth district and calls me director.
Ágnes Szabó, 168 Hours, 2011
Translation by Zsuzsanna Juraszek
- Maladype’s (Encounters) forerunner was the Vareso Aver troupe, made up of Gipsy and non-Gipsy members, who contracted for a single performance in a brave and free adventure (Blood wedding, directed by Zoltán Lendvai). Would anyone have thought then that it would become an officially registered theater?
- I wasn't even in the picture, but the Serbian producer Dragan Ristic wanted a piece that wasn't so folklore-based. He was looking for a director who could make theater in Gypsy and Hungarian, with a mix of professionals and amateurs, but everyone said no. They recommended me as a mentally ill guy who would accept it. At the time, I was commuting between France and Hungary and I had the desire for adventure. It was also known about the play (Ionesco: Jack, or the Submission) that it had already failed everywhere, so it was doomed from the start. In my concept, the Gipsy family spoke the Lovári language all the time and only switched to Hungarian when the Hungarian family got involved in the play, and at the end the two got mixed up. People loved it. The freedom of "why not" gave everyone such energy and faith that our eponymous performance was born.
- Then with the next one, (Ghelderode: The School for Fools), which is also a symbol-laden, surrealist material, you took a risk again.
- In that case, we also did not want to illustrate the written material. Erika Molnár, who played Galgüt, spoke three languages, the fools were Gypsies, but they had to speak Latin and they were trained for the highest etiquette, their original identity was terribly suppressed, which then exploded on stage. Here we asked: is there art, is there a single answer, path, form and content.
- And there is?
- There is no answer. I brought a gift, and I didn't: take it if you know, that's what art is about. Somewhere halfway between the two performances, we realized that we really had met each other. A normal person does not become a company leader, especially not so consciously. If the community is good and people are happy to talk about something in it and take risks, then it is worth doing.
- At that time, you were already an actor and director at Bárka, you could have followed this path as well.
- Yes, I already prepared Theomachia and The Blacks, but I felt that these people should not only be kept, but also developed. Many people have already joined us here. (Artúr Kálid, Éva Bakos, Kristóf Horváth, Balázs Dévai, Nóra Parti) Maladype was just a side activity for everyone, the scenes were made during nights, in stolen times, like partisan actions. On our way, The Blacks meant the combination of instinct and consciousness: a metacommunicative world and a system of signs that is understandable to the spectator, but also transports him into the world of ceremony, like at mass, where he is not impressed by what happens, but by how it happens. We invited opera singers who lent their voices live to the gaping actor. Many people could not put this anywhere, because they thought I had crossed a line.
- You also played in Bárka. You are headstrong, you can be yourself almost only in your own coordinates and ideas, yet you had to let roles be assigned to you. Did you meet the expectations of others?
- I don't think I could do them well. For example, I was a horrible Romeo. The only role I could do well: Hamlet. In Hamlet, my coordinated side was paired with a very free, very rebellious side of me. But I wasn't an actor there either, I tried to represent Hamlet's problem as Zoltán Balázs. It happened that during the fifth monologue I was very tired, I felt that I could not continue the play and that I needed a little break. The other me said that this is why they are paying me and waiting for the effect. Then, while they were fighting with each other, I told 350 people in the auditorium that I would like two minutes because I was tired. There was a great silence, and then I slowly started to piece together the monologue word by word. The audience applauded - they felt that the theater had been destroyed and I was just one of them - but the actors were shocked that such a thing could not be done. It was an important discovery that man dares to allow himself errors.
- At the age of six, you left home with a suitcase and ran after a traveling circus because you wanted to play. Then you became an actor and director because you still wanted to act. In managing a troupe, especially in today's situation, what is the game for you?
- I'm still surprised by the Russian roulette nature of the independent theater, they still haven't fired the bullet that's in the gun, but they'll, I'm sure. To this day, I have so many questions to ask, but I can't answer them until I get to the end. Doing is always more valuable than thinking about whether to do. I'd rather make a decision and then close my eyes or ears so we can sense it. I know that one day it will end and there is a performance at the end that I want to do, but there are still many things to go through.
- They are trying to shorten this path for you now. The performing arts law, which came into effect in 2013, has already been adopted, where you, the independents who have been highlighted so far, are classified into a practically non-existent third category after the national and permanent theaters, along with about three hundred others. As a company leader, you have to plan ahead. What will you do if this happens?
- You have to think ahead and move forward even in such a situation. I want to live and work in this country and preferably in the quality that they expect and are used to from us. If we can't get into a situation at home that matches our talent, knowledge and years of proven experience, then we will have no choice but to leave, because I don't want to and I can't work in an unworthy situation. I should be primarily concerned with the direction, the plays and the development of my actors, not with fighting in Orwellian conditions and making my voice heard.
- Are there any set-in-stone principles within the troupe?
- We don't lie to each other and to the spectator. Of course, we also have disagreements, age group and taste tensions, but the spirit is the same. It is very important for the troupe leader to be dominant, but he cannot dominate the troupe or impose his palm on the personalities of his actors, because then there will not be free, powerful and fresh people who are burning with being themselves. Here at the Base, we play in an intimate space and I have human actors. Everyone forgets that he was first a man, then he became an actor. With us, the spectators stay here even after the performance, we talk to them. We get tired if we are not being asked. I want to know what they take home: if they tell me, I get it.
- However, not many people could handle this pace. From the initial company, only Kamilla Fátyol is with you.
- Yes, what we do is not necessarily actor-friendly in the classical sense of the word, but if someone crosses this certain border, where there are no guarantees and safety limits, then it is a great experience and a great happiness. The actor reaches areas that he would never reach on his own. There is no recipe for who does it and why, but one's own responsibility cannot be avoided. You have to believe that something can happen to you here, and if it can, it will.
- Most independent theaters define themselves along contemporary lines. In comparison, you play real classics, you didn't write any pieces yourself. What determines the choice of pieces?
- I am not attracted to contemporary dramas, for me the theme is also contemporary in Don Carlos, I would like to approach the realization in a "contemporary" way. I think of the theater as much more elevated, more distant, to which signs and codes lead, it cannot be offered on a tray, because then the interest of those who come here will be destroyed. I want to surprise the spectator, but I won't surprise them because a sentence or a situation will be familiar. For me, the actor determines the play, if I don't have an actor who is suitable for the task, then I don't do that play, even though I have a list in my head of the order of the plays.
- You already have many invitations abroad. You just came home from Poland, then went to Romania and Transylvania, and then to Vienna, almost within two weeks. Did you have to push and lobby for the invitations at the beginning, or did it come naturally?
- Eight years ago, the contemporary drama festival featured The Blacks and Theomachia at the same time. They called me back then, but we didn't go because we weren't there yet. I still had to find the most ideal medium material, who are able to maintain a repertoire, operate in such an environment and do not hesitate to operate their nervous system, I’ve been having this for four years.
- How did you get Mari Töröcsik, the Actress of the Nation to "play" with you in The Marriage of Figaro?
- Do you think she would be here if she didn't want to? She is simply curious about who she is and who else she can be. I don't think I can describe the development history of Maladype more absurdly than the fact that Mari Törőcsik rehearses and plays with us in an apartment theater in the eighth district and calls me director.
Ágnes Szabó, 168 Hours, 2011
Translation by Zsuzsanna Juraszek