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THE FINAL PERFORMANCE OF THE OLD NATIONAL THEATRE ENDRE MARTON: KING LEAR, 1964 —to> Title: King Lear. Date of Premiere: 22" May, 1964 (revived on 24'* September, 1967 and 28'* September, 1974). Venue: National Theatre, Budapest. Director: Endre Marton. Author: William Shakespeare. Translator: Mihály Vörösmarty (revised by Dezső Mészöly). Dramaturg: Erzsébet Bereczky (1974). Assistant director: Eszter Tatár. Set Designer: Josef Svoboda. Costume Designer: Nelly Vágó. Company: National Iheatre, Budapest. Actors: Lajos Básti (Lear), Imre Sinkovits (Kent), Tamás Major (Gloster), Ferenc Kállai, Gyula Szersén [1974] (Edmund), Tibor Bitskey, Vilmos Izsóf [1967], László Sinkó [1974] (Edgar), Erzsi Máthé (Goneril), Katalin Berek, Mária Ronyecz [1974] (Regan), Mari Törőcsik, Melinda Máriáss [1974] (Cordelia), Kornél Gelley (Albany), Attila TyIl (Cornwall), János Horkai, Sándor Téri [1974] (Oswald), Vilmos Izsóf, Ottó Szokolay [1967], Pál Somogyvári, Antal Konrád [1974] (King of France), Elemér Tarsoly, János Horkai [1974] (Gentleman), György Kálmán, István Pathó [from 1968] (Fool), János Pásztor, Géza Sándor [1967], János Pásztor [1974] (Curan), Sándor Hindi, Gellért Raksányi [1967] (Doctor), László Csurka (Messenger 1), Ödön Gyalog (Messenger 2), László Versényi (Servant 1), Tibor Kun (Servant 2), László Balogh (Captain), Béla Bodonyi, Sándor Siménfalvy [1974] (Old Man). CONTEXT OF THE PERFORMANCE IN THEATRE CULTURE The 1964 performance of King Lear, which was set on stage at the National Theatre for the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s birth, remained a showcase item of the one-party state’s official theatre life for more than a decade, thanks to the two revivals in 1967 and 1974. The premiere was accompanied by almost unanimous critical acclaim, the tickets for the performances were sold out, and the success has been eternalized in a TV recording. But our reconstruction, half a century later, is most difficult: while the 1964 performance was celebrated for its paradigm-changing nature in the history of the play’s theatrical reception“! and its forward-looking nature #1 Before 1964, the last production of King Lear was set on stage at the National Theatre 16 years earlier, in 1948, directed by Béla Both, with Artúr Somlay in the title role. Edgar was played by Lajos Básti, the Lear of the 1964 production. +05 +
