Oldal 163 [163]
OCR
IMRE KERÉNYI: KING JOHN, 1984 Both the past and the present appeared on stage. Ihe audiences attention was sometimes drawn by an ornately carved organ at the back and high above the floor, and sometimes by blue neon tubes, illuminated in the shape of a cross above the rectangular performance space. The shimmering white floor, occasionally in a silvery light, came into focus especially at the beginning and at the end, when a ceremonial “ice ballet” was performed there to some dance music.” There was an execution at the end too, before the floor was mopped up again, but those three noblemen were decapitated then who had held the baskets at the beginning. “The story led from three beheadings to three beheadings this time, to the first act of the new regime.”* The pantomime, which displayed the cycle of the Grand Mechanism, could also be made meaningful in the sense of a Marxist conception of history, stating that it was “an accurate interpretation of the pungently ironic play that pillories the madness of power, the indifferent realpolitik, the romantic enthusiasm and the great powers that reign over the heads of mankind”.® But the “bizarre clean-up”*” or even “purge”,*°? performed with shocking routine and pedantry, could also gain topical political meaning, especially because of its modality, very different from the requirements of Marxism. Therefore, it could also conjure up the not-so-triumphant moments of socialist salvation history. (In this respect, the wordless procedure of the pantomime became particularly important.) Spectators were laughing at the kings kissing like veteran party leaders and at the marching behind huge flags to “mischievous leitmotifs” of national anthems and French folk songs. They were smiling at the royal families’ greeting and cursing each other according to rehearsed forms following the resurgence of tableaus that had become motionless for a moment, as if to take a photo. But all this amusement was shattered by “the profane ritual of the mop, the stick and the bucket of water”, confronting the audience with the fact that “the stage of history must always be cleaned of blood in the end". 7° Cf. “Three people come in: a ‘master of ceremonies’ and two soldiers. A bucket is taken out of the sideboard [i.e. from under the stairs], and the boss pours water into it. They dip a mop in the water, twist it on a long stick with dead serious choreography, while festive music is playing. Then they start to mop up, and the boss is checking the flag. The music is turning into a waltz, they put everything away. One of the ministers (Pal Macsai) comes in and checks the cleanliness of the floor with a white cloth. King John (Istvan Hirtling) and his entourage arrive, as well as the French ambassador: three lords are being executed. The heads of the political enemies are put into baskets. The king covers them with a shawl. He takes out the third one, hugs it, shows it up. The baskets are carried out. John looks at the ambassador sarcastically. And now comes the first sentence from Diirrenmatt’s King John.” Gabor Banyai: János király az Ódry Színpadon, Népszava, Vol. 111, No. 237, 7 October, 1983, 6. 800 (bogacsi): Két vizsgaeldadas, 3. 801 Bányai: János király, 6. 802 Földes: János király, 22. 803 Varjas: Ujrajatszva, 13. 804 Koltai: Üjranézé, 45. + 161 +
