OCR
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 thirdyear 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