Oldal 195 [195]
GABOR SZEKELY: THE MISANTHROPE, 1988
In György Cserhalmi’s performance, it was not the ridiculous eccentricity
of the misanthrope (similar to that of the miser, Tartuffe and the imaginary
invalid) that came to the fore, but the ambivalence of moral battles with
other people and the tragic of the loss of these battles. Carrying in his body
the memory of the tragic heroes he had already played, Cserhalmi, with
his shoulders raised and his hands in his pocket, with his frequent leaping,
squatting and lying on the ground, created an imposing but familiar figure,
colored by “his modern anxieties and neuroses”.* His “end-of-the-century
misanthrope” made present many of the “burnt-out, distressed, hysterical”
and self-destructing figures of contemporary Hungarian literature from
Imre Sarkadi to Péter Hajnóczy," choosing not only his solitary retirement
from social life for all, but supposedly suicide at the end. Dorottya Udvaros
displayed Céliméne’s love and fear for Alceste with as much finesse as the
inability to give up her insistence on the appearances Alceste hated most.
Their clinging together as well as clashing each other seemed to be portrayed
with the experience of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?. Besides the precision
of ensemble acting, reviewers highlighted the “amoeba-like spinelessness” of
Gabor Maté’s Philinte.°* They underscored the “perfection and virtuosity”
of Géza Balkay’s acting, together with the contrast of his Oronte to the
protagonist, pointing out that this figure is “much more attractive, more
human”, and stands closer “to our daily compromises, our little deceits”.?%
They also mentioned the successful efforts of Erika Bodnar (Arsinoé) and
Agnes Bertalan (Eliante) to avoid the clichés of women highly influenced by
Alceste’s attitude.
STAGE DESIGN AND SOUND
Csaba Antal’s set was neither completely historic nor modern, but rather
characterized by “some kind of stylized classicism”.* A coffered ceiling
covered the stage, but there were no chandeliers hanging from it, and the
space was closed by a large number of off-white glass doors, but there were
no rooms behind or next to them. The metaphorical and interpretative power
following him after a while. There was a critic for whom “the running and some of the
extravagant movements seemed to be superfluous and emphasized at the expense of the
text". (Anna Földes: A mizantróp, ma, Nők Lapja, Vol. 40, No. 49, 3’ December, 1988, 21.)
Another reviewer described them as components of “powerful physical acting”, interspersed
with “hugs and informal gestures”. (Godard: A pillanatok, 48.)
Csáki: , Ez a világ — rohad", 28.
Földes: A mizantróp, ma, 21.
Koltai: A tökélyre vágyó magányossága, 12.
Tarján: Odi et amo, 22.
Almási: Szeressetek az embergyülölöt!, 7.
Koltai: A tökélyre vágyó magányossága, 12.
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