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A BITTER FARCE OF LOSING POLITICAL IDEALS IMRE KERÉNYI: KING JOHN, 1984. —to> Title: King John. Date of Premiere: 4" November, 1984. Venue: Castle Theatre, Budapest. Director: Imre Kerényi. Author: Friedrich Dürrenmatt (based on William Shakespeare’s King John). Translator: Gäbor Görgey. Composers: Gábor Kemény, Tibor Kocsák. Dramaturg: Enikő Márai. Set designer: Attila Csikés. Costume designer: Zsuzsa Borsi. Company: National Theatre, Budapest. Actors: Istvan Hirtling (John Plantagenet, King of England), Eva Vass (Queen Eleanor, mother of John), Anna Gotz (Isabella of Angouléme, wife of John), Anna Kubik (Blanche of Castile, niece of John), Cecilia Esztergalyos (Constance, sister-in-law of John), Viktéria Garai (Artur Plantagenet, Duke of Brittany, nephew of John), Frigyes Funtek (Philip Faulconbridge, the Bastard), Eszter Szakács (Lady Faulconbridge, mother of the Bastard), Gyorgy Csdk (Robert Faulconbridge, brother of the Bastard), Zsigmond Fülöp (Philip, King of France), József Kerekes (Louis the Dauphin), László Dózsa (Leopold, Prince of Austria), Zoltán Nagy (Pandulpho, Cardinal of Milan), Pál Mácsai (Earl of Pembroke, Minister of John), László Baranyi (Chantillon, Ambassador of Philip), Péter Czibulás (Lord Essex; First citizen from Angers), Csongor Ferenczy (Lord Bigot; English Herald), György Bősze (Lord Salisbury; French Herald), Bertalan Bagó (Soldier), Péter Győri (Soldier), Géza Kaszás (Soldier), Árpád Nagy (Musician). CONTEXT OF THE PERFORMANCE IN THEATRE CULTURE During the necessary renewal of the company and the repertory, King John provided the National Theatre with a professional and box-office success for several seasons. When Imre Pozsgay, the Minister of Culture and Education, who had made the reform of the National a crucial issue, lost the battle for control of cultural policy against Gyorgy Aczél, he “founded the Katona Jézsef Theatre as an independent institution detached from the National, and made Gábor Székely and Gábor Zsámbéki escape to there"."?? It was one of Pozsgay’s 739 Géza Fodor: A Katona József Színház 15 éve, in Anna Veress (ed.): Katona 1982-97 Kamra 1991-97, Budapest, Katona József Színház Alapítvány [1997], 4. — The Katona Jozsef Theatre was formerly (between 1951 and 1982) the chamber theatre of the National.
