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THE FINAL PERFORMANCE OF THE OLD NATIONAL THEATRE
roles”.#° In addition, the director avoided subtexts that would make possible
any allegorizing on the theme of the fall of the old order. In this respect, it is a
key moment when Gloster reads the letter written by Edmund, his illegitimate
son, but attributed to Edgar, his legitimate son: “such power only lasts while
tolerated”, and Tamas Major stops before the last word, then emphasizes
it. Somewhat later Major/Gloster speaks up furiously against these words,
inciting revolution against the fathers, the followers of the old regime, and his
visceral reaction leaves no doubt that “this is treason!”*?
ACTING
The cast, qualified as “spectacular”,*©? met undivided praise at the occasion of
the 1964 premiere.* Ten years later, however, at the time of the second revival,
some of the critics made it clear that “the performance of Lajos Basti [...] was a
little outdated”,*® the “excellent actors, Kossuth Prize winners could not cope
with their duties, [and those who] played for the first time in King Lear, even in
real starring roles, were unable to fully develop their characters”. Watching
160 Ernő Taxner: Shakespeare 1964, Kritika 2:12 (1964), 30.
The quotation is from Dezsö Meszöly’s adaptation of Vörösmarty’s renderinginto Hungarian,
translated back to English. In the English-language text of the play, we find “aged tyranny,
who sways, not as it hath power, but as it is suffer’d”. William Shakespeare: King Lear, edited
by Kenneth Muir, London — New York, Routledge, 1993, 26.
“Conspiracy”, in the English-language text. Ibid. - The status quo is also confirmed by
Edgar. In the television recording of the production he is played by László Sinkó, whom we
see as an intellectual figure first, reading a thick book, wearing glasses and a guasi-sweater,
but who, unlike the subversive Edmund, believes in the old order and helps to restore it. It is
not difficult to perceive the typical figure of the consolidation of the Kadar regime in him,
also familiar from some films.
Fencsik: , Lear szerepével", 2.
Cf. “[Acting] is so uniformly high that it is impossible to set up a value system." Mátrai¬
Betegh: Lear király, 13. — However, the reviews highlighted three actors: Lajos Básti, Imre
Sinkovits and György Kálmán. The critic of Ország-Világ, for example, considered that
"besides Adam and Oedipus, Lear was perhaps Bástis greatest achievement to date" (Gábor
Antal: A Lear király a Nemzeti Színházban, Ország-Világ, Vol. 8, No. 24, 104 June, 1964,
24.), Miklós Gyárfás appreciated the elimination of the poses that had characterized Bástis
acting (Épülő színház, 8.), and Béla Mátrai-Betegh emphasized the “lyrical beauty and
human truth" of his performance (Lear király, 13.). Imre Sinkovits’s Kent was described by
Peter Nagy as a “statue of feudal fidelity carved from a block" (A magyar Lear királyról, 9.).
Critics agreed that “one of the most original artistic achievements of the production was
György Kälmän’s Fool” (No author: Hetveg: felüjitäs-bemutatö, Hétfői Hírek, Vol. 8, No. 22,
25‘ May, 1964, 6.), who was praised even ten years later in an independent essay by Katalin
Róna (A Bolond: Kálmán György, Színház 8:1 [1975], 28—29.). Unfortunately, Istvan Patho’s
performance of The Fool in the television recording cannot recall the greatness of Gyérgy
Kalman’s acting, which remains invisible to today’s spectators and is documented only by a
few photos.
465 Taxner: Shakespeare 1964, 30.
466 Koltai: Lear kirdly, 7.
46:
8
46:
3
46.
2
+ 100 +