Tomcsa Sándor: Terrible Sunday afternoon | Screening

June 04, 2025

Upstairs Foyer

17.00

Romanian Television, 1976
53´

Cast: Lujza Orosz, György Barkó, Ilona Toszó, Erzsébet Lázár, Vilmos Ambrus
Sound: Ioan Dinuță, Dinu Rădulescu
Camera operators: Ștefan Mărescu, Alexandru Nemeș, Radu Popescu, Constantin Manole
Film editor: Bergi Diradurian
Production manager: László Evellei
Editor: Teodor Sugár

Writer Sándor Tomcsa was one of the most famous natives of Odorheiu Secuiesc. He was a prominent figure of local culture, and his works were inspired by the comedy, the grotesque situations and the contradictions found in everyday life. In his short stories and sketches, he humorously and satirically portrayed smalltown life, the petty bourgeoisie, and the everyman. Sándor Tomcsa was at once a celebrated playwright, a humiliated unemployed man, an award-winning short story writer, a bohemian young man, a lonely artist, and the eternal master of the amateur theater movement. The theater company of Odorheiu Secuiesc still bears his name today. His plays have been adapted by numerous directors. In 1976, György Harag directed a television play based on his work Egy rettenetes vasárnap délután (A Terrible Sunday Afternoon), which was recorded by Magyar Adás (the Hungarian language program of the national broadcaster). Similar to other stories by Sándor Tomcsa, this one is also about small- town life. It sheds light on several aspects of the community, such as the fact that everyone must adapt to a certain uniformity in order to avoid exclusion. Written in 1956, this cheerful yet sad story is still relevant today.