Gyula Balogh: Against the betrayal
Another theatrical record, which raises nice nostalgia and has now discoveries too of course: it is Shakespeare’s Hamlet from Bárka Theatre.
I rarely have the desire to watch a performance again. The re-watching of Hamlet excites me – as Péter Gál Molnár said in his critic in Népszabadság in 2005 in connection with the performance of Bárka Theatre. I can admit that I had similar feelings, when I saw, that the Maladype Theatre connected to Shakespeare’s birthday made accessible on their YouTube channel the recording of Hamlet, directed by Tim Carroll. I also watched the performance that time in Bárka Theatre, it had great success, as the director, who was the main director of Globe Theatre in London then, worked as a guest here with many ideas, and he made the performance more interesting with tricks that could be seen as marketing turns too. The record, that is broadcasted now, was recorded on the final performance of the drama on 4th June 2006 with hand cameras. Many things have changed so far, there is not Bárka anymore, the members of that troupe have been together any more. Zoltán Balázs, who performed the main character, has formed his own company, Maladype has had great successes, but it could not avoid crisis too. So Hamlet that way, gives us the opportunity to a subjective time travelling.
The beginning of the performance is special too, as many times they decide with a draw, or some kind of games, who would play the roles that evening. Anikó Varga and Kristóf Horváth, who will perform later, conduct all of it. The viewers get different properties, which would get important roles later in the scenes. The actors perform in civil dresses, Claudius (Attila Egyed), for example, is presented almost all through the performance, with a jumper, tied around his waist. There is not traditional stage or set, they rearrange the place after each acts. Everything happens around and with the viewers. Many of us cannot get avoid the involvement into the performance. Many times Zoltán Balázs gets them, pulled them into the scenes. But he does it so naturally and passionately that it is hard to stand against him. Sometimes he puts whipped cream on a viewer, then sometimes they slurp water together, which is poured over a colander.
It can be seen, that Balázs finds out there, that properties or viewers he would like to use. He builds up the character from more colours. He is a clown and a dramatic hero at the same time. Besides it we can see acrobatic movements and scales of moves from his all through the performance. He performs through the whole theatre. If he needs, he sits in a viewer’s lap, or asks a member of his auditorium to dance with him. Three of them perform the monologue, “To be or not to be”, he does it together with an older and a child viewers. The important thing is, that any of us can become Hamlet any time, who if he realise the betrayal, the lie, has to decide what to do. He gives it up or fights for the truth, for his own truth.
While watching the record of the almost three and half hours long performance, we can feel well, that what kind of motivated group was in the Bárka then, who could speak the same theatrical language. It was good to see, besides those, who I have mentioned, Olga Varjú (Gertrud), Kriszta Szorcsik (Actor Queen), József Czintos (Polonius), Balázs Dévai (Horatio), Róbert Kardos (Rosencrantz) Gábor Nagypál (Guildenstern), Zoltán Seress (Actor King/Ghost), Béla Gados (Gravedigger I) and Erik Ollé (Laertes).
Between the viewers, we could see well-known faces, and many youngsters, who liked Bárka, as a professional workshop, which was always searching for something new. The record rises a nice nostalgia, and it strengthens that theatre is a one-person genre, sooner or later, we will have to sit down again next to each other, not only because of that, they can pour whipped cream on us.
Gyula Balogh, Népszava, 2020
(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)
I rarely have the desire to watch a performance again. The re-watching of Hamlet excites me – as Péter Gál Molnár said in his critic in Népszabadság in 2005 in connection with the performance of Bárka Theatre. I can admit that I had similar feelings, when I saw, that the Maladype Theatre connected to Shakespeare’s birthday made accessible on their YouTube channel the recording of Hamlet, directed by Tim Carroll. I also watched the performance that time in Bárka Theatre, it had great success, as the director, who was the main director of Globe Theatre in London then, worked as a guest here with many ideas, and he made the performance more interesting with tricks that could be seen as marketing turns too. The record, that is broadcasted now, was recorded on the final performance of the drama on 4th June 2006 with hand cameras. Many things have changed so far, there is not Bárka anymore, the members of that troupe have been together any more. Zoltán Balázs, who performed the main character, has formed his own company, Maladype has had great successes, but it could not avoid crisis too. So Hamlet that way, gives us the opportunity to a subjective time travelling.
The beginning of the performance is special too, as many times they decide with a draw, or some kind of games, who would play the roles that evening. Anikó Varga and Kristóf Horváth, who will perform later, conduct all of it. The viewers get different properties, which would get important roles later in the scenes. The actors perform in civil dresses, Claudius (Attila Egyed), for example, is presented almost all through the performance, with a jumper, tied around his waist. There is not traditional stage or set, they rearrange the place after each acts. Everything happens around and with the viewers. Many of us cannot get avoid the involvement into the performance. Many times Zoltán Balázs gets them, pulled them into the scenes. But he does it so naturally and passionately that it is hard to stand against him. Sometimes he puts whipped cream on a viewer, then sometimes they slurp water together, which is poured over a colander.
It can be seen, that Balázs finds out there, that properties or viewers he would like to use. He builds up the character from more colours. He is a clown and a dramatic hero at the same time. Besides it we can see acrobatic movements and scales of moves from his all through the performance. He performs through the whole theatre. If he needs, he sits in a viewer’s lap, or asks a member of his auditorium to dance with him. Three of them perform the monologue, “To be or not to be”, he does it together with an older and a child viewers. The important thing is, that any of us can become Hamlet any time, who if he realise the betrayal, the lie, has to decide what to do. He gives it up or fights for the truth, for his own truth.
While watching the record of the almost three and half hours long performance, we can feel well, that what kind of motivated group was in the Bárka then, who could speak the same theatrical language. It was good to see, besides those, who I have mentioned, Olga Varjú (Gertrud), Kriszta Szorcsik (Actor Queen), József Czintos (Polonius), Balázs Dévai (Horatio), Róbert Kardos (Rosencrantz) Gábor Nagypál (Guildenstern), Zoltán Seress (Actor King/Ghost), Béla Gados (Gravedigger I) and Erik Ollé (Laertes).
Between the viewers, we could see well-known faces, and many youngsters, who liked Bárka, as a professional workshop, which was always searching for something new. The record rises a nice nostalgia, and it strengthens that theatre is a one-person genre, sooner or later, we will have to sit down again next to each other, not only because of that, they can pour whipped cream on us.
Gyula Balogh, Népszava, 2020
(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)