On the occasion of the Anniversary of Hungarian Drama, we offer a review of the Hungarian language dramas we have presented on the stage of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj within the last three decades (1990-2020).
Among the 74 premieres, we encounter the masterpieces of Hungarian dramatic literature. They include the most notable classical works written for stage (Csongor és Tünde, The Tragedy of Man, Bánk bán), the masterpieces of the 20th century (Liliom, The Play at the Castle, Caligula’s Governor, etc.) but also works by contemporary authors that were performed on the Cluj stage (Chickenhead, Ibusár, The Fruit of Your Loins, The Bird of Prey, Lace, Disciples, Bolero, etc.).
The dramas are diverse in terms of genre: in addition to tragedies, comedies, musicals, musical performances, there are also examples of New Year's cabaret productions (works by Jenő Heltai, Frigyes Karinthy, Miklós Jancsó, etc.), also, several performances were staged in the last decade that had their respective texts created during staging process (Draculatour or the Brand Stroker Project, Caravaggio Terminal, Homemade, etc.)
Numerous productions dedicated to children and families were included within the repertoire for our audience’s entertainment (The Adventures of Bab Berci, The Adversities of a Brave Mouse, The Miracle Cake, Maestro Csillala, Beyond the Smudgy Mountain, The Paul Street Boys, The Four-Square Round Forest, The Jungle Book, The Lubberly Wizard, Be Faithful Unto Death, etc.).
One-person shows were also featured (An Orphaned Life, Endre Ady Literary Evening).
The artistic director of our company, András Visky, who is our in-house playwright, enriched the theatre’s repertoire by no fewer than 8 dramas (Juliet, Disciples, Long Friday, Born for Never, Alcoholics, I Killed My Mother, Caravaggio Terminal, Porno – The Story of My Wife).
Here are the 74 premieres of the last 30 years:
1990-2020
János Székely: Caligula’s Governor, March 10, 1990. Director: Gábor Tompa
Péter Müller: The Blunt Truth, May 2, 1990. Director: Miklós Parászka
Jenő Heltai: Naphthalene, November 23, 1990. Director: Gábor Tompa
Jenő Rejtő: Hercules bonbon, December, 1990. Director: András Csíky, Gerő László
Ferenc Molnár: The Devil, April 12, 1991. Director: Ágnes Szabó
József Katona: Bánk bán, October 18, 1991. Director: Árpád Árkosi
Why does everything that is beautiful fade away?! - New Year's Eve cabaret, December 31, 1991. Director: Gerő László, András Csíky
Ede Szigligeti: Liliomfi, April 5, 1992. Director: Ferenc Boér, András Csíky, Gerő László, Gábor Tompa
György Spiró: Chickenhead, May 17, 1992. Director: János Vincze
Ervin Lázár: The Adventures of Bab Berci, September 26, 1992. Director: István Mózes
László Márton: A nagyratörő, December 17, 1992. Director: Miklós Parászka
Ferenc Molnár: Mr. Doctor, February 12, 1993. Director: István Mózes
Sándor Hunyadi: Erdélyi Kastély, April 15, 1993. Director: Gábor Dehel
István Örkény: Pisti a vérzivatarban, May 21, 1993. Director: János Vincze
Ernő Szép: Pharmacy, October 22, 1993. Director: István Mózes
Andor Szilágyi: Leánder and Lenszirom, November 21, 1993. Director: Gábor Czeizel
Jenő Rejtő: Cseberből vederbe - musical cabaret performance, March 27, 1994. Musical coordinator: Katalin Incze G.
György Spiró: The Imposter, June 1, 1994. Director: Árpád Árkosi
János Székely: Mórok, July 1, 1994. Director: Gábor Tompa
Milán Füst: Auntie Máli, October 8, 1994. Director: Árpád Árkosi
Ferenc Molnár: The Paul Street Boys, May 17, 1995. Director: Gábor Czeizel
Ferenc Molnár: Liliom, February 7, 1996. Director: István Kövesdy
János Arany: The Gypsies of Nagyida, March 15, 1996. Director: Endre Senkálszky
Péter Kárpáti: The Fruit of Your Loins, June 21, 1996. Director: László Bérczes
Mihály Vörösmarty: Csongor and Tünde, December 18, 1996. Director: Tibor Csizmadia
Lajos Parti Nagy: Ibusár, April 13, 1997. Director: István Kövesdy
Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man, October 24, 1997. Director: Imre Csiszár
New Year's Eve Cabaret - Frigyes Karinthy: The Inimical Husband, Miklós Jancsó: He plays with Death. Guests. Lujza and Jenő - Written and compiled by: Miklós Jancsó December 31, 1997
Zsolt Láng: The Bird of Pray, May 23, 1999. Director: András Hatházi
Zsigmond Reményik: The Family Home, October 13, 1999. Director: András Hatházi
Mihály Vörösmarty - Gábor Görgey: The Secrets of the Veil, December 29, 1999. Director: Attila Keresztes
2000-2010
György Spiró: Quartet, May 12, 2000. Director: István Kövesdy
Andor Bajor: The Adversities of a Brave Mouse, April 8, 2001. Director: András Hatházi
Ferenc Molnár: The Play at the Castle, June 29, 2002. Director: István Kövesdy
András Visky: Juliet, November 8, 2002. Director: Gábor Tompa
Attila Szabó: Noddy Michael, September 28, 2003. Director: Attila Szabó
Bea Muszty - András Dobay: The Miracle Cake, September 19, 2004. Director: Attila Keresztes
Olga Barabás: Enigmatic Story, October 10, 2004. Director: Olga Barabás
András Visky: Disciples, November 4, 2005. Director: Gábor Tompa
Dániel Varró - Gábor Presser: Beyond the Smudgy Mountain, November 11, 2006. Director: Attila Keresztes
András Visky: Long Friday, December 8, 2006. Director: Gábor Tompa
Mária Kozma: Maestro Csillala, January 25, 2009. Director: Attila Keresztes
Julianna Marosi: An Orphaned Life, February 12, 2009.
András Visky: Born for Never, July 7, 2009. Director: Gábor Tompa
Bálint Balassi: A Fine Hungarian Comedy – scenic reading, December 3, 2009. Director: Salat Lehel
Mihály Csokonai Vitéz: Cultura – scenic reading, December 9, 2009. Director: Salat Lehel
2010-2020
Péter Bornemissza: Hungarian Electra – scenic reading, February 20, 2010. Director: Salat Lehel
Géza Szőcs: Passion – scenic reading, April 2, 2010. Director: István Albu
Sándor Petőfi: The Hammer of the Village - scenic reading, April 19, 2010. Director: Salat Lehel
Imre Madách: Only a Trick - scenic reading, May 12, 2010. Director: Salat Lehel
András Visky: Alcoholics, October 10, 2010. Director: Gábor Tompa
András Visky: I Killed My Mother, January 27, 2011. Director: Csilla Albert, Áron Dimény
István Örkény: One Minute Stories - scenic reading, November 12, 2011. Director: Csongor Köllő
Ervin Lázár: The Four-Square Round Forest, 08.05.2011. Director: István Albu
Jenő Heltai: The Mute Knight - scenic reading, May 12, 2011. Director: Salat Lehel
Lajos Kántor: My Friend in the Mill - scenic reading, May 18, 2011. Director: Salat Lehel
Péter Demény: Bolero - scenic reading, June 20, 2011. Director: Salat Lehel
Róbert Lakatos - Cecília Felméri: Draculatour or the Brand Stroker Project, September 18, 2011. Director: Róbert Lakatos
Tamás Jónás: Cockle-Shell - scenic reading, April 12, 2013. Director: Csongor Köllő
Zsigmond Móricz: I Can't Live Without Music, May 17, 2012. Director: András Hatházi
Lace - Based on Angi Máté's novel Mamó, May 21, 2013. Director: Kinga Mezei
Péter Demény: Bolero, October 23, 2013. Director: István Albu
Lajos Szabédi: Husband Career - scenic reading, November 13, 2013. Director: András Hatházi
Péter Eszterházy: I am you - scenic reading, November 26, 2013. Director: András Visky
Sándor Weöres: Towards Wholeness - scenic reading, December 22, 2013. Director: Gábor Tompa
Endre Ady Literary Evening by Zsolt Bogdán, April 14, 2014. Editor: István Szugyiczky
A project by András Visky and Robert Woodruff: Caravaggio Terminal, May 24, 2014. Director: Robert Woodruff
Mihály Csokonai Vitéz: The Widow of Mr. Karnyó and the Two Rascals, March 6, 2015. Director: Attila Keresztes
László Dés - Péter Geszti - Pál Békés: The Jungle Book, May 27, 2015. Director: Zoltán Puskás
Pál Békés: The Lubberly Wizard, 15/01/2016 Director: László Béres
Domokos Szilágyi: The Book of the Elderly, May 7, 2016. Director: Mihaela Panainte
Judge Réka, Deák Katalin and the team: Homemade, May 11, 2016. Director: Márta Vargyas
György Dragomán: Galoshes, November 16, 2016. Director: András Visky
Zsigmond Móricz - Tibor Kocsák - Tibor Miklós: Be Faithful Unto Death, January 17, 2017. Director: László Béres
András Visky: Porno - The Story of My Wife, June 1, 2020. Director: Árpád Árkosi