The theatre as genre has many risks in it, but to perform the first play by a contemporary writer, or a classical one from the student’s book – can result in an action with special level of danger. Bárka Theatre has made experiments with both of them, but up to now the “palm” is for the modern ones. The classical one can hardly sit in the boat.

Tim Carroll, the director to avoid the Hamlet trap made a drama play from it, at least tried to do it. Everybody knows the story, so the question is not about the “what” but about the “how”. The actors’ roles change from performance to performance: for example, they decide with a draw, that József Czintos would be Polonius or the gravedigger. Then the viewers have to take different noise maker tools with them, which the actors can use. Another performance is born every evening: we can never watch two similar ones. It is a brave experiment, it is a fresh realization of some classical texts “given meanings”, that we do not watch the performance, because we are interested in the heroes’ motivations, feelings and passions. Mostly we come to a Hamlet ceremony, and we do not take care of the quality of realization.

The troupe of Bárka Theatre tries to treat Hamlet as a text of a rite, which does need any explanation. They could choose any similarly emblematic text or they could change the plays too, if there were not some kind of annoying static thing in the performance. It is strange to talk about direction in case of a performance which is built on the actual dynamic between the actors and viewers, anyway: Tim Carroll put this performance on stage, however he would like to keep the appearance of improvisation. There are some accidental elements, but the structure is fixed, and the text is fixed too: the whole Hamlet has to be told word by word, and there is any joke in it.

The audience fills the whole Fencing Hall: we are sitting on podiums, and the actors are performing between the lines, on the earlier formed corridors. In the huge, diversely formed area some smaller and bigger frontal auditoriums are formed, where the scenes can go on without any greater complications. From time to time, when they ask we have to show those objects, which we have carried with us, but it can activate the viewers nicely, it can build the community feeling. There is not any assault, they might watch well into the eyes of those, who sit in the first line. There is not any fault in the actors’ machine, but in the fixed parts of the direction. It is improvisational, but it is not, it lets them play then do not do it. The troupe “pass” it wonderfully: they are natural all over it, they can form a nice feeling of home, it is a pleasure to watch them concentrating. It is an experience, that we can watch from so close their work. (The experience can be thanked for the good choice of place too...) They do their job coordinated, they form the actions, they cannot do anything else, they cannot leave the conventions of the play. They have freedom to sit in some viewers’ laps or they can grab an interesting object (red vine, lemon, apple, children toy) and they can take their partners to the play.

Zoltán Balázs lives mostly with this freedom: maybe he is the most unpredictable element. His eyes move, always watches, reacts, turns around, searches the accidental things, the strange situations. He starts games causes tingle. As a main character he can do it, as others ensure the operation. His artistic virtue and technique are impressive. Hamlet is convincing: he is playful and masculine anyway. He gives a strange mixture of power and softness, while he seems to be a “simply boy from the square in jeans and trainers”. He brings the performance on his shoulders, he accepts many and gives a lot. He really plays. The whole performance can be more playful, if Tim Carroll left more freedom for his actors, if he trusted them more. This troupe is now similar to a sleeping volcano: their energies are about to erupt. Only some names: Kinga Mezei, Kriszta Szorcsik, Gábor Nagypál, József Czintos, Erik Ollé, and all the others.

The Bárka Theatre is before changes: we are waiting for it curiously, and hope that the spirit of experiments can remain – more bravely, more individually, and we are waiting for the possibility for the members of the troupe to be able to shown finally their power, their still dormant, fresh energy.

Melinda Sőregi, Kontextus.hu, 2006

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)