EMŐKE KATÓ RECEIVES THE HUNGARIAN CONTEMPORARY CULTURE IN TRANSYLVANIA AWARD

In 2022, the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania will present the Hungarian Contemporary Culture in Transylvania Awards for the tenth year in a row.

Emőke Kató has been awarded the distinction in the category of performing arts.

In view of the current pandemic, the prizes will be awarded during the Cluj Festive Book Week.  

Our heartfelt congratulations on the award!

A Burning Bush on the Stage

A tribute to Emőke Kató

An actress of exceptional stature, she shines in a strange light. It is as if a burning bush were speaking to us, as if a burning bush were silenced when she is silent. When she sings, however, her delicately sensual, deep and, at times, I have the feeling of a brutal soprano echoing experiences changes the texture of the space and brings us all in close proximity. We open up to our own selves. These are profound and exhilarating moments, when our most hidden secrets come into view. It turns out that we all have a secret life, and that is not the real one neither.  

It's extremely difficult to cast her, because she becomes the focal point of the scenes even when she's not the main character or even a supporting one. In such cases, we theatre people, in our perplexity, always come up with the same word: presence. Because we don't know what it really means. Whose presence do we sense in these unusual situations? What is being released among us and touching us? Perhaps it is the inexpressible certainty that there is a soul, and that each of our souls, separately, is aware of the other, and that these touches are multiplied, and that we need not fear time, nor the unknown, for we remain each other's echoes in the infinite and very real space of the Spirit.   

It is a difficult to cast her in a role, which is why the best directors compete for her and why she is invited to play the most varied roles, both on Hungarian and Romanian stages. I could list some of the so-called big names she has worked with, but I won't, because I find that they are the ones who boast of Emőke Kató's name, because they have finally had the chance to work with her and she has raised their performances by her art.

She has an impressive list of roles behind her, she has played in some of the most important productions of the Cluj company, because the actor's body and human soul that she possesses can speak in many voices and convey numerous experiences. It is impossible to pigeonhole her, she would break out of all the boxes, because she does not want the comfort of being recognizable, but that of the yet-to-be-experienced: how can I become someone who I have never been before?

Perhaps very few people know this about her, but those who do, sometimes speak of her with a fearful tone, as she is not afraid of anything or anyone, she is capable of breaking down, of consuming herself, there is no wall she would get around. She pushes boundaries and sometimes doesn't even realize that she's made it through the other side. She is a true creative person, in every sense of the word. She not only rehearses, but tests herself; she not only searches for the strongest connotations of the role, but searches for herself; she not only utters the word, but herself, sometimes from astonishing heights.  

She is a mature, versatile creative artist who has risen to the forefront of theatre in the making and is respected by more than one theatrical culture. It is a pleasure to work with her, a pleasure to attend her performances, a pleasure to rejoice with her in her successes, a pleasure to be proud of her.

I sincerely congratulate her on her award, which she will receive on the Day of Hungarian Culture.

András Visky

Cluj, 2022. On the Day of Hungarian Culture