András Visky’s documentary-play Porno – The Story of My Wife will be presented in two Northern Transylvanian cities: Carei and Zalău. Directed by Árpád Árkosi, the staging is a co-production between the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj and the Gyula Castle Theatre.

The two performances will take place as follows: on June 22, at 7 pm, at the Municipal Theatre of Carei, and on June 23, at 7 pm, at the Zalău Culture House. Following the performances, audiences will also have a chance to meet our artists, as actors Éva Imre and Ferenc Sinkó will join the audience for an informal chat.

“We need to stand in front of our children and the children of our children and tell our own stories. To banish dictatorship from our language, our eyes, our touch, our cells. Until we do, we will live in a dictatorship-addiction. There is no bolder act than to own our story of cowardice.” – stated András Visky, the author who also included personal life events within the play.

The production won two awards at the XXXII edition of the Kisvárda Festival of Hungarian Theatres, where the director of the performance, Árpád Árkosi, won the award for Best director from the Ministry of Human Resources, while Éva Imre won the Mayor of Kisvárda’s award for her portrayal in the production.

“In this case Porno is an alias that the observers gave to the person they observed. We are not witnessing a salacious story, but political porn, as the author calls it, a case study that also doubles as a historical chronicle. One that reveals a way of thinking that seemingly disappeared yet always gets resurrected: the one that views the human being as an object, a commodity” - wrote Márta Bodó in her analysis of the production for RomKat.ro, a Transylvanian Catholic portal.

The creative team of the production includes costume designer Gyopár Bocskai, composer Tibor Cári, whereas Ferenc Sinkó, who is one of the two people performing in the play, also created the stage movement for the performance.

Tickets for the Carei performance  can be purchased at the offices of the Carei Cultural Center, reservations can be made by calling 0261 865 006. Tickets for the Zalău performance are available at the Sălaj County Headquarters of the UDMR - reserve your ticket by calling 0260 661 685.

The tour was made possible by the support provided by the Government of Hungarian and the Bethlen Gábor Fund.

Partners: Carei Cultural Center, the Ady-Kölcsey Cultural Association of Tuşnad, Sălaj County Organization of the UDMR, the Hungarian Cultural Society of Transylvania’s Regional Office of Şimleul Silvaniei and its surroundings.