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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! + 19 +
