Again, ’Actress of the Nation’ Dorottya Udvaros will be featuring a middle-aged man at Trafo House! The Radnoti Theatre will perform ’Futotuz’ (original title: Incendies) with English subtitles, and the ’Comedy Theatre’ Vigszinhaz will launch performances with English subtitles in March.
From March on, four highly successful productions of the Vigszinhaz, namely The Dictator, The Great Gatsby, Cabaret and The Seagull, will be presented with English subtitles. In April, the Radnoti Theatre will offer English-speaking theatre-goers to see ’Futotuz’ (Incedies) with subtitles. Whereas the Trafo House will offer foreigners new magic, dance and documentary theatre performances with English subtitles. The theatrical adaptations of internationally renowned titles guarantee an exciting experience for foreigners living in or visiting Hungary. (The latest figures from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office KSH put the number of foreigners in Hungary at around 100,000.)
At the Vigszinhaz, a theatrical version based on Charlie Chaplin's most influential film, The Dictator, starring Attila Vidnyanszky Jr. in the lead role, can be seen on the main stage. Also, a musical adaptation based on the cult novel The Great Gatsby, starring Jozsef Wunderlich and Andrea Waskovics and directed by Attila Vidnyanszky Jr. create a phantastic atmosphere. In addition, Joe Masteroff, John Kander and Fred Ebb's world-famous musical Cabaret introduces audiences to the nightlife of Berlin in the 1930s until history casts a dark shadow over the events, and terror and inhumanity creep almost unnoticed into people's daily lives. This spectacular musical production, full of popular hits, was directed by Attila Beres and features Csenge Szilagyi.
Chekhov's The Seagull is one of the greatest works of dramatic literature and is considered to be the writer's most personal confession. The main themes are unrequited love, the endless love for theatre, the eternal search for happiness, the struggle against loneliness and mediocrity. The Vigszinhaz presents Chekhov's masterpiece directed by David Doiashvili, featuring Luca Markus, Eszter Nagy-Kaloczy, Laszlo Markus Jr., Attila Vidnyánszky Jr. and András Stohl.
It is important to note that the English subtitles in the Vigszinhaz auditorium are most visible from rows 10-20 in the stalls as well as from the first two rows of the balcony, so we advise English speakers to book their seats there. At the Radnoti Theatre, you can also enjoy performances with English subtitles from the balcony: the theatre therefore reserves these tickets for foreign visitors for the 11 April performance of Incedies. Ticket requests should be sent to szervezes@radnotiszinhaz.hu, and a link to purchase tickets will be sent in reply. Reservations will close at 17:00 on 1 April.
Incedies is also based on an internationally acclaimed film: it is based on the work of Lebanese-born Canadian playwright and director Wajdi Mouawad, who was directed by Denis Villeneuve in 2010 and whose film Dune is currently running in domestic cinemas. Villeneuve's early directorial debut was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Hungarian stage version directed by Róbert Alföldi was premiered in 2017, starring Zsolt Laszlo, Mark Nagy, Nora Blanka Berenyi and Adel Kovats. The story describes an investigation: after her death, in her testimony a mother informs her children that their father is alive somewhere and that they also have a brother. They are given the task to find their two lost family members and to hand each an envelope. At first, the twins object to the task, but eventually they are troubled by their past. As they investigate, they delve deeper into the horrors of a past war and begin to see clearly why their mother concealed all her secrets throughout their life together.
In April, the Trafo House will also welcome foreigners with four English-language performances: the documentary theatre performance of Kristof Kelemen, "Able to Distract Attention" is about the hidden mechanisms of the online space, the possibilities of speaking out loud and the commodification of our attention. Civil participants share their personal stories and experiences. https://trafo.hu/en/programs/szinhaz_figyelem_1
A dance production entitled "Age of Spirit" explores issues of trans-generation at the intersection of film, dance and theatre. Viewers meet three elderly dancers, Eva, Irene and Agnes, aged over 90, who took part in the development of modern dance in Hungary in the 1930s.
Kalle Nio, the best-known Finnish illusionist and visual artist, will return to the Trafo House for the third time in the spring of 2024: this time he will present elements of circus, theatre and new magic – and a green curtain in his performance entitled The Green.
In April, a special theatre project titled Jerôme Bel will be performed on two more occasions: the creator and title character of the show has seized the Sustainable theatre? initiative and thus decided not to travel his shows and his company anymore as touring a show is believed to go with pollution, but he prefers to have his shows performed by local performers and local NGO teams. He instructs the performers online/by means of video recording. This is how the 59-year-old French male choreographer is played by Hungarian actress Dorottya Udvaros.
We wrote about the meeting of the two artists in this article.