Oldal 157 [157]
OCR
IMRE KERÉNYI: KING JOHN, 1984 armored knights."" Representing the satirical as well as the tragic, the miseen-scéne multiplied Dürrenmatts "bilingualism","" i.e. the "play of changing colors”, in which “everything ‘proved to be something else"," and increased the (fairly significant) retuning of the figures of the two protagonists, John and the Bastard. The outcome of the story of a king “using immoral tactics””° but “still being amenable, bendable”’ and Philip Faulconbridge, siding with him, following only the morality of common sense and believing in the possibility of change, was death and total disillusionment. These made the realization, stemming from the “doublespeak” of the production (i.e. the reference to the spectators’ own situation), even more unbearable: the loss of ideals for any kind of betterment of the state and the social order.’”*' Consequently, Imre Kerényi’s King John, “this shameful tale of history”’’ became a poignantly amusing denial of the possibility of any reforms in the 1980s (said to be a second period of reform in Hungary), in short, dismay at the feasibility of socialism.’ 756 Cf. “Power is grinding all who come to power. The throne is seen first as an ultimate desire by all, but when they sit on it (or when they are already sitting on it), they realize that this throne is a place of execution. And this is how it goes round and round; every new king goes through this process." Takács: A hatalom körforgása, 4. Cf. Miklós Almási: Példabeszédek a túlélés trükkjeiről. Dürrenmatt János királya a Várszínházban, Népszabadság, Vol. 42, No. 275, 23" November, 1984, 7. (bogácsi): Két vizsgaelőadás. János király, Magyar Nemzet, Vol. 46, No. 269, 159 November, 1983, 3. — Cf. also “The family reunion [proves to be] a diplomatic negotiation or vice versa, if you like. The wedding lunch is, in fact, a funeral feast over a city. The sulking of the spanked ends in a violent maneuver, in a military revenge.” Ibid. Mészáros: A korszerűtlen ésszerűség, 7. 760 Judit Csáki: Dürrenmatt: János király, Kritika, 23:3 (1985), 41. 761 Cf. “There is no cynicism and betrayal, no wickedness that is enough to enforce rationality in the face of power.” Gyürgy: Fejezet a zsarnoksägrél, 8. — In this regard, the scene of the murder of Arthur Plantagenet, on the one hand, and that of the bastard’s withdrawal, on the other hand, are crucial. In the former scene, the Bastard is howling while lifting up the child’s body, wrapped in a black shroud, “as a proof of the cynical cruelty of the world”. (Tamás Koltai: Reálpolitika, avagy a személyiség esélyei, Híd 50:8 (1986), 921.) In the latter scene, the Bastard is crying and sinking to the ground, when he is forced to admit that "the chariot of fate is pulled by stupidity and chance". The emotional power of both scenes is enhanced by the same moving melodies. Ihe demonstration of a victim returns ten months later in a similar way, at the end of Kerényis mise-en-scéne of Stephen the King. György: Fejezet a zsarnokságról, 9. 763 Cf. the reviews of Népszava and Új Tükör, full of overtones. “The Bastard, the chance-child of the great King Richard the Lionheart [...] hopes that after all the horrors, something good is born, that rationality prevails over wild anarchy, and common sense stops the great meat grinder of history. But the result is a Pembroke. [I.e. a sly murderer.] Bad things will get even worse and Somebodies will be replaced by Nobodies.” Takacs: ,Egy Pembroke az eredmény!”, 6. (My italics — A.K.K.) — “Philip Faulconbridge (later Sir Richard Plantagenet) [...] is just a snooty loudmouth in Shakespeare. [...] Diirrenmatt’s Bastard is a kind of hero with naive dedication. He is an illegitimate child of a king, but in fact, a true child of the folk, who wants to put the wolves on the right track, with the innocence of a lamb, thought to be finesse. He fails, of course.” Tamas Koltai: Üjranézé. János király, Várszínház, 1988. november 7. 93. előadás, Képes 7, Vol. 3, No. 48, 264 November, 1988, 45. (My italics — Á.K.K.) 75 S 75: œ 759 762 «15 +
