Oldal 158 [158]
OCR
A BITTER FARCE OF LOSING POLITICAL IDEALS STAGING Kerényi’s mise-en-scéne deepened the “sneering ritual ofnational buffoonery””™ into a story of downfall that conveyed immeasurable bitterness and avoided both uniformity and superficial eclecticism in its performance style. Several reviewers noted that the production was more complex and nuanced than Dürrenmatt’s play and it had “a strong interpretation of the world appearing in a definite theatrical form, similarly to Gabor Székely’s Flight [from Mikhail Bulgakov’s play], Jozsef Ruszt’s Easter [based on Isaac Babels’s Red Cavalry] and Tamas Ascher’s The Cherry Orchard recently”. Compared to Kerényi’s previous works, the representation of this world view, as well as the polished use of elements of various traditions, styles and standards of theatre, had already come as a revelation on Odry Stage.” Due to some new actors of the National Theatre, the heterogeneity of acting styles slightly increased at the Castle Theatre,’° while “the composition became more precise and professional in every detail” at the same time.’ The revived production emphasized its “overly grotesque approach”, which stemmed from the representation of the mechanism of power as really mundane.” Contrary to József Ruszts opinion, who sensed a different kind of humor,’” this approach made the mise-en-scéne 764 Ibid. 765 Iván Sándor: Älkerdesek helyett. Éjféli napló, Film Színház Muzsika, Vol. 28, No. 50, 158 December, 1984, 17. Cf. “This is not the kind of theatre we have recently associated with Kerényi’s name. He has liked far-fetched heroism and used to boast with history, he has felt affinity for folk traditions of theatre, for dramatic folklore. He has also created a so-called social satire that seemed to understand neither society nor the genre." Mészáros: A komédiás uralkodik, 6. — 766 “In recent years, Imre Kerényi’s works have proved that the director demands a politically committed theatre open to social, political and national problems. This urgent need often dictated too fast a pace, so his results were doubtful, and the uttering of his message became more important than any other consideration. [...] This staging, King John is fundamentally different from this negative tendency [because] it consists of more than the void of ideological determination.” György: Fejezet a zsarnokságról, 7. 767 Cf. "Kerényi made [...] the actual age and the familiarity or unfamiliarity of actors part of the production and the interpretation of the play. The eclecticism of acting styles in some cases, therefore, helps to show the differences between the worlds of the characters.” Ibid., 10. Mészáros: A korszerűtlen ésszerűség, 7. Cf. "There is plenty of derision and irony in the constant waving of flags and in the songs that characterize the courts. (The French sing Sur le pont d Avignon, and the doom of the English comes with the canon of London’s burning, London's burning.)” Gyorgy: Fejezet a zsarnokságról, 11. According to Ruszt, "the environment of the college students" production suited the play 76: œ 769 77 Ss better. The technical components of the performance were stronger, and as far as acting was concerned, the young people were playing in a more dangerous way. It was a cruel, dangerous performance. [...] The bodies and souls of the people in their 20s produced the filth of the play with their natural purity, but also dissolved it at the same time. Youth and passion put serious problems into their right place in the audience. The production of the Castle Theatre, on the other hand, was cynical. There’s a fantastic political-historical machinery working in this show, and it is scary that we live in a world like this, so vulnerable. After this
