On Saturday, July 13 and Sunday, July 14, from 7 pm, at the invitation of the Festival Academy Budapest, the Hungarian House of Music will host the performance of Young Barbarians directed by Attila Vidnyánszky Jr. The production was inspired by the lives of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, based on a text by Miklós Vecsei H. and improvisations by the company and co-produced with the Gyula Castle Theatre. The Hungarian Theatre of Cluj closes its 2023/2024 season with this guest performance.

This season the production of Young Barbarians has already been invited to several festivals: it has performed at the 33rd National Theatre Festival in Bucharest, at the dráMA Contemporary Theatre Encounter in Odorheiu Secuiesc, and at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, but in previous years it has also been presented at prestigious festivals such as the 10th Theatre Olympics in Budapest and the XI Madách International Theatre Meeting (MITEM).

“There are many other remarkable components to the production, one of which is perhaps of paramount importance in leaving the viewer with a cathartic experience. And that is that the many moments in The Young Barbarians inspire a sense of selfless laughter, the kind of laughter that is perhaps not often elicited from audiences by theatre productions these days. Somehow, it seems a little forgotten that serious, thought-provoking content is not necessarily alienated from the liberating laughter that represents one of the ancient powers of theatre.”  - stated theatre critic Judit Kiss

At the 44th edition of the Guild of Theatre Critics’s Award – where Young Barbarians won nominated for the Best Repertory Company Production - Éva Imre won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Award for her portrayal of Barbarian B..

She was nominated for the 2022 Best Actress in a Leading Role Award by the Romanian Theatre Association (UNITER) for the same role, her performance also being recognized by the Artistic and Social Advisory Board of Gyula Castle Theatre, who awarded her the Lajos Őze Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts for her original and complex rendition of Béla Bartók. Later on she was also honored with the Bánffy Miklós Award, the highest prize of the Artistic Council of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj.

The two main characters of the performance are portrayed by Éva Imre and Ervin Szűcs, with additional roles being played by Csilla Albert, Balázs Bodolai, Loránd Farkas, Zsolt Gedő, Zsuzsa Tőtszegi and Lóránd Váta; four young folk dancers are also included in the play: Katalin-Bíborka András, Ágnes Lakatos, Nimród-Károly Kacsó and Hunor Vincze-Pistuka.

A special feature of the Young Barbarians is the live accompaniment and performance by the Tokos Band: Csongor Attila Tókos, Albert Vajas, Gyula Bálint Szép, Kristóf Szakács, Zsombor Bálint.

The creative team also includes: Csaba Csíki (set designer), Zsuzsanna Cs. Kiss (costume designer), Dávid Mester (musical director), István Berecz (choreographer) as well as Emőke Veres (assistant director).

Tickets for the Budapest performance of the Young Barbarians are available at jegy.hu.