Lívia Ölbei: Or not to do it
Thanks God nobody brought a skull, so prince Hamlet on Saturday assessed the poor worm-eaten Yorick’s – and all people’s together with him – fate with a bellows in his hand. Anyway, the viewers of Weöres chamber season tickets from Szombathely, passionately and witty fulfilled the advance appeal, according to which everybody tried to take a CD and some properties for the Hamlet guest performance of Bárka Theatre from Budapest, which is said to be a theatrical experiment on the programme. However, it is a real performance of flesh and blood.
The story is that the actors go on stage, which – with some free ways – is formed also by the viewers from evening to evening, in their civil dresses, without any properties. Then with draws and rock-paper-scissors game the viewers decide, who plays which role – one actor has learnt more – then finally they show up the objects, they bring, which would get into the performance in a successful way. Tim Carroll the main director of Shakespeare Globe Theatre in London, did not leave everything to chance: there is only one Hamlet – he is always the extraordinary suggestive Zoltán Balázs, who states the importance of the convoluted tragedy with his hyperactive personality. The total failure. The Danish prince always tries to do something, while he cannot do anything. If he does, then he does it accidentally. (To be or not to be. To do or not to do. What is the difference?)
Anyway, the fate is unpredictable: it cannot be known that from the premiere in December 2005 has the troupe had a statistic, about the fact, that how many times does one person get a role, anyway on Saturday József Czintos did not even get a chance to be the silly innocent Polonius with his wide eyes. It was said that during the last two month the draw gave this role to him, so it was time to his partner, to Béla Gados to come his turn. Nóra Parti could not come, so Kinga Mezei had to play Ophelia. The lack of the other possible Ophelia was good for those, who has seen the performance – with another cast. For example, in Pula, in the Bárka-harbour of the Valley of Arts in summer, where the local church and its surroundings gave an interesting and effective place for the development of the tragedy. (Where Gabi Varga played one of the Ophelia, but since then she has gone from Bárka Theatre.)
Who knows why, but for second watching, the drawing of characters and the game (no matter who interesting they are) with the spontaneously chosen tools seemed to be fancy decoration on the performance which was very direct and from many points of view, bare, which anyway could give a (re)new meaning to János Arany’s wonderful translation. (Of course, the aim of the game is the joy itself. If you like that way, the game is self-serving. The good thing in it, that it has not got any aim.) Meanwhile: on Saturday it happened twice that objects got meaning – besides that they illustrated well the important topic, as on stage “everything can be everything”, it just has to be used well, as that time we experience the time of suspension of our unbelief (as we could see, instead of the scull it could be anything else).
The Viking helmet with horn first got on the Actor King’s head – when Attila Egyed appeared in the role of the old Hamlet’s ghost – indicated with it the reason of the king’s death and the base situation of the tragedy. Then the helmet got to the young Hamlet: as it (would) be his task to put the dislocated time back into its place. Maybe it was not an accident that Kinga Mezei, in the role of Ophelia returned back to the same tools in her madness, with which she playfully said goodbye to her leaving brother – in that evening to Tibor Mészáros – at the beginning of the performance: at the end the slipper in the role of flowers and the hat of the Santa Clause quoted back wonderfully Laertes’ – and with him, their poorly ended father’s, Polonius’ – “good advices”, about Hamlet’s courtship, which could not be taken seriously.
Claudius was played by the blade, Zoltán Seress (would be good to see Attila Egyed too), Gertrud was Kriszta Szorcsik (it must be exciting with the harsher Olga Varjú too), Laertes was Erik Ollé in Szombathely. Guildenstern-Rosenkrantz – they can be mixed up – they were played by Róbert Kardos and Gábor Nagypál. It was special that during the performance we could examine one another too. That how someone gave or did not himself to the play. At the end, the audience celebrated the troupe for long: actors came to bow at least five times. Varga Anikó, who was also the master of the performance, invited next to her that little boy, who became a character of the performance. It is for sure, that it remained a memorable evening for him. He fell in love with theatre.
Lívia Ölbei, Vas Népe, 2006
(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)
The story is that the actors go on stage, which – with some free ways – is formed also by the viewers from evening to evening, in their civil dresses, without any properties. Then with draws and rock-paper-scissors game the viewers decide, who plays which role – one actor has learnt more – then finally they show up the objects, they bring, which would get into the performance in a successful way. Tim Carroll the main director of Shakespeare Globe Theatre in London, did not leave everything to chance: there is only one Hamlet – he is always the extraordinary suggestive Zoltán Balázs, who states the importance of the convoluted tragedy with his hyperactive personality. The total failure. The Danish prince always tries to do something, while he cannot do anything. If he does, then he does it accidentally. (To be or not to be. To do or not to do. What is the difference?)
Anyway, the fate is unpredictable: it cannot be known that from the premiere in December 2005 has the troupe had a statistic, about the fact, that how many times does one person get a role, anyway on Saturday József Czintos did not even get a chance to be the silly innocent Polonius with his wide eyes. It was said that during the last two month the draw gave this role to him, so it was time to his partner, to Béla Gados to come his turn. Nóra Parti could not come, so Kinga Mezei had to play Ophelia. The lack of the other possible Ophelia was good for those, who has seen the performance – with another cast. For example, in Pula, in the Bárka-harbour of the Valley of Arts in summer, where the local church and its surroundings gave an interesting and effective place for the development of the tragedy. (Where Gabi Varga played one of the Ophelia, but since then she has gone from Bárka Theatre.)
Who knows why, but for second watching, the drawing of characters and the game (no matter who interesting they are) with the spontaneously chosen tools seemed to be fancy decoration on the performance which was very direct and from many points of view, bare, which anyway could give a (re)new meaning to János Arany’s wonderful translation. (Of course, the aim of the game is the joy itself. If you like that way, the game is self-serving. The good thing in it, that it has not got any aim.) Meanwhile: on Saturday it happened twice that objects got meaning – besides that they illustrated well the important topic, as on stage “everything can be everything”, it just has to be used well, as that time we experience the time of suspension of our unbelief (as we could see, instead of the scull it could be anything else).
The Viking helmet with horn first got on the Actor King’s head – when Attila Egyed appeared in the role of the old Hamlet’s ghost – indicated with it the reason of the king’s death and the base situation of the tragedy. Then the helmet got to the young Hamlet: as it (would) be his task to put the dislocated time back into its place. Maybe it was not an accident that Kinga Mezei, in the role of Ophelia returned back to the same tools in her madness, with which she playfully said goodbye to her leaving brother – in that evening to Tibor Mészáros – at the beginning of the performance: at the end the slipper in the role of flowers and the hat of the Santa Clause quoted back wonderfully Laertes’ – and with him, their poorly ended father’s, Polonius’ – “good advices”, about Hamlet’s courtship, which could not be taken seriously.
Claudius was played by the blade, Zoltán Seress (would be good to see Attila Egyed too), Gertrud was Kriszta Szorcsik (it must be exciting with the harsher Olga Varjú too), Laertes was Erik Ollé in Szombathely. Guildenstern-Rosenkrantz – they can be mixed up – they were played by Róbert Kardos and Gábor Nagypál. It was special that during the performance we could examine one another too. That how someone gave or did not himself to the play. At the end, the audience celebrated the troupe for long: actors came to bow at least five times. Varga Anikó, who was also the master of the performance, invited next to her that little boy, who became a character of the performance. It is for sure, that it remained a memorable evening for him. He fell in love with theatre.
Lívia Ölbei, Vas Népe, 2006
(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)