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IMRE KERÉNYI: STEPHEN THE KING, 1985 the members of his circle received boisterous and emotionally overwhelming songs. Ihirdly, the cast was rather uneven, as, for example, the rock star Gyula Vikidál (Koppány) with his extremely powerful voice stood half naked against the unknown and mediocre actor László Pelsőczy (Stephen), who was only lipsynching, while Miklós Varga was singing instead of him.??" The production of the National Iheatre redressed the balance between István and Koppány, emphasizing their being a "binary star", despite all their differences in political attitude, worldview, thinking and way of life. Furthermore, it focused on Stephens serious doubts and portrayed the founder of the Hungarian state as a “charismatic dramatic hero”.?” He is a hero in whom “the moral being confronts the man of realpolitik",? who is aware of the serious loss caused by his decision to preserve the country, i.e. aware of the showdown with his blood relative and the internal war that has claimed countless casualties.**! This was done in order to make an allegory out of the situation displayed by the rock opera, not so much to connect it with the present, but rather to show it as the fate of national history.°?? STAGING As a result of its distinguished interpretation of the rock opera, the mise-enscène provided “the drama of a decision with extremely serious human and public consequences”,®**? instead of some unreflected patriotic fervor based 82 S The production on King Hill did not only seem to favor Koppäny, but, although everyone knew that “Stephen is right historically, scientifically and in principle, [...] the tough and strong pagans with their beautiful voice [...] sang down the representatives of the bumpy road of historical progress from the hill" András Székely: A Tizenkét dühös ember és az István, a király a Nemzetiben, Új Tükör, Vol. 22, No. 41, 13'* October, 1985, 28. According to the director, if we survey Hungarian history, we see such “binary stars” or pairs of stars a lot. In spite of their radically different concepts, “they are of the same origin. They have acommon root. [...] That’s the story we were trying to tell.” Petöfi Radio, 10:45 a.m., 23" September, 1985. Koltai: Reälpolitika, 921. #30 Ibid. 831 Cf, “And the production at the National Theatre now, perhaps, makes Stephen a dramatic figure, or let’s say tragic, for he is well aware of the decision that will cause damage in any case somewhere in his personality and throughout the life of the country." Petőfi Radio, 10:45 a.m., 23" September, 1985. #22 Cf. “The great men of our country were always forced to make decisions that were bad in both directions, but they still had to choose the lesser of two evils.” Ibid. - “We see the formula of our history here: the tragic choice between two paths, between two options. [...] Kerényi makes us feel this serious drama excellently from the very beginning by the way he stages the song "Mondd, kit választanál?" [Tell me, who would you choose?]. And this idea, the inescapable tragedy of the decision, is brought back in the last scene, with Stephen, left alone, a winner and a loser at the same time.” Takacs: A döntés drámája, 6. #3 Ibid. 82: ® 82 o e « 167 +
