Oldal 21 [21]
PHILTHER AS A HISTORIOGRAPHIC MODEL
the brilliant retuning of psychological realism too, which created a sumptuous
illusion of life, not devoid of some cruelty (in the Artaudian sense of the word)
that provided its topical and political character.
Finally, I examine The Misanthrope (1988) as a good example of the
professional perfectionism of the Katona’s productions staged in the
“Székely era” and the determination of a company which dared to analyze
social problems in the public sphere, as sensitively as possible, to influence
collective thinking about them. Shortly before the regime change, at the
end of a decade far from revolutionary, Gabor Székely’s mise-en-scéne made
moral corruption going hand in hand with social degradation the subject of
“doublespeak”, judging our common conditions through a tolerated classic, in
the robe of historicist staging. The disgust erupting in the performance in an
undisguised way thanks to Gyorgy Petri’s congenial translation, among other
things, expressed the intolerable nature of life in the shadow of “the court”
(the phrase used like Hungarian people referred to “the system” in terms of
state socialism) with the same power as Three Sisters some years earlier.
These twelve analyses do not wish to mould the aspirations of Hungarian
theatre between 1949-1989 into one story. They outline a picture that can
never be seen in its entirety, yet its numerous vivid details shed light on
several larger parts. The picture is necessarily partial, as it lacks, for example,
performances made in the increasingly important theatre workshops in
the countryside (in Kaposvar, Kecskemét and Szolnok), or works ostracized
from the public realm of officiality. However, the analyses touch on a great
number of subjects (such as issues of the history of institutions, building
a repertory, directorial attitudes, careers of actors and actresses, etc.) that
nuance the understanding of how theatres and theatre culture functioned in
times of state socialism. Footnotes contribute greatly to this nuance, as they
write further and sometimes add particularly important details to the main
text, which has been made as concise as possible. Although their bulkiness
sometimes stalls the reader, I hope that the unrelenting illumination of the
essential particulars, while always unfolding larger arcs, is meticulously
accomplished by them.
Benevolenti lectori salutem!
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