Seite 160 [160]
A BITTER FARCE OF LOSING POLITICAL IDEALS
longer ‘a position of the outsider because of age’, but an ‘elegant solution for
style’”.””° However, it was not exclusively applied, since the mise-en-scéne
always revealed the “inner content of the situations, either ironic and farcical
or tragic”.’”” Although it contained little anachronism and did not leave the
context of historicist staging in terms of appearances, it had “a magnificent
choreography of alternating historical and contemporary atmospheres”.’”
Despite the fact that it had no unity of style,’” it was not disturbing at all.
ACTING
King John was based on the teamwork of four young people from the college
production and members of the National Theatre, whose different acting
styles were certainly coordinated (no longer for pedagogical purposes, but for
the purpose of building a company) and demonstrated as well. The artistic
director, Laszl6 Vamos considered “the development of a very capable and
talented young company [...] that meets the requirements of a national theatre”
as the greatest achievement of the years after 1982.7°° Imre Kerenyi’s college
class contributed three actors to this company in 1984 and besides Istvan
Hirtling, Pal Mácsai and Frigyes Funtek, it was only József Kerekes, a third¬
year college student, who could keep his role in King John played on Ódry
Stage too.’®! Since the mise-en-scene had not been altered, the production was
“recolored by the changed cast”.’”®” Character impersonation had been made
776 Mészáros: A korszerűtlen ésszerűség, 7.
777 Koltai: Kicsontozott királydráma, 29.
778 Almási: Példabeszédek, 7.
779 Cf. "Ihe "game" of the kings, who throw colored darts at provinces on a map, is very
different from the moment of the brutal death of Constance and Eleanor, which could be
included in a Shakespearean production representing Kott’s conception of history plays
too. [...] The parodistic movement of the lords wearing heavy armor is extremely different
from the song of war performed in the style of Brecht and Weill. The entry of the ‘national
groups’ with flags and anthems or the pantomime summing up the ‘intangible message’
at the beginning and the end feature intellectual irony, but physiological humor, such as
the crippled Isabella of Angouléme [...] and the imbecile Dauphin, is also in place.” Koltai:
Kicsontozott kirälydräma, 29.
789 Vamos: Gondolattéredékek, 209.
781 Cf. “The college class that finished its studies with this production [...] quickly became a
legend. [...] The same class (at least some of the students) could repeat the ‘exam’ in a long
series, refining Imre Kerenyi’s original mise-en-scene. [...] The production has been matured,
improved and enriched with the creative power of the artists of the National.” Almási:
Példabeszédek, 7.
Gabriella Molnár: Ismét János király. Bemutató a Várszínházban, Esti Hírlap, Vol. 29, No.
266, 129 November, 1984, 2.
78:
S