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ANDRÁS VISKY JANUARY 1, 2020. The theater of parousia, Silviu Purcárete announces at the first rehearsal of The Tragedy of Man:? it’s his way of summarizing the goal of the endeavor before us. We see a shabby company on the unusually narrow, built-up stage. The director continues. They’re all naked, covered only by beige trench coats: they’re all here with us. They will perform the tragedy of man, the man of every age and our own, each in their own way, “poor in spirit.” The theater of parousia, which means the theater of “Christ’s appearance at the Last Judgment.” In other words: the theater of the Resurrection. In ancient Greek usage, parousia referred to the rite of the ruler’s visit; in the Gospels, to the final visit of the Redeemer, that is, to the second coming of the Messiah, the final, fulfilling event when He restores “the country” and sits in final judgment. What else should we understand in this directorial proposition but the act of rendering justice that represents the essence of theater? It is not solely a philosophical-theological matter — but, of course, that’s essentially what it is! — but also poetic advice: with Purcarete, in any event, we come face to face with it, since he regards the theater as the stage of universal events: a space where Revelation is achieved and we participate in the administration of justice. Not a theater of illusion, opposed to reality, but, on the contrary, the theater of the sole reality, opposed to the world as optical illusion. Alain Badiou defines the post-Brechtian theater of political subject(s) as “the means to display truths,”* whereas Purcärete’s theater is the theater of existencetruth, therefore that of the sole truth, which is the final summation of the kaleidoscope-play of Badiou’s “truths.” The main entrance to the Gergely Csiky Theater — the enormous building that houses three major theatrical companies (Romanian, Hungarian, and German)‘ and an opera company — can be found on its southeastern side, from which a fairly uninviting staircase leads up to the former ballroom, now converted into the stage of the Hungarian company. The hall can also be reached from the northwestern side of the building on Opera Square, presently under renovation. For me, well known if not legendary for my poor sense of ? Imre Madäch (1823-1864): Az ember tragédiaja [The Tragedy of Man], S. Purcarete — Andras Visky (eds.), a play in verse and one of the foundational works of Hungarian theater: Director, Silviu Purcarete; Sets and costumes, Dragos Buhagiar; Music, Vasile Sirli; Dramaturg, Andras Visky; Directorial assistant, Ilir Dragovoja; Musical assistant, Enikö Eder; Sound,Sebastian Bayer; Stage manager, Eva Kertész; Lighting, Zoltan Gid6; Prompter, Marika Czumbil; Photography, Petru Cojocaru; Poster design, Csilla Joö; Cast: Géza Aszalos, Attila Balazs, Andras Zsolt Bandi, Emilia Borbély B., Anna Csábi, Zsolt Csata, Enikő Éder, Attila Kiss, Levente Kocsárdi, Ildikó Lanstyák, Rita Lőrincz, Szilárd Lukács, Etelka Magyari, Zsolt Imre Mátyás, Csongor Mihály, András Csaba Molnos, Enikő Szász, Mónika Tar, Andrea Tokai, Eszter Nikolett Tóth, Richárd Vass; Gergely Csíky Theater, Timisoara, Romania, March 3, 2020. 3 Alain Badiou: Le siecle, Paris, Editions du Seuil, 2005. * "That is, one company for each of the three historical ethnic groups of Transylvania. + 226 +
