Tamás Koltai
Cavalcades of Metaphors
Pál Békés: Visz-a-víz (Vis-á-vis) - András Forgách: A görény
dala (The Polecat's Song) - Hazámhazám ('Mylandmyland').
...
The recent Hungarian past appears as a circus cavalcade in the Krétakör Színház
(Chalk Circle Theatre) production of Mylandmyland. (This is the repeated opening
phrase, here provocatively rolled into a single word, of the eponymous hero's
principal aria in the emblematic central section of Bánk bán, a national opera
by Ferenc Erkel composed around 1848, to a libretto that drew on József Katona's
drama written in the early 1800s.) It is a tall order to alert anyone who
has not lived through the thirteen years that have passed since the collapse
of Communism in Hungary, the so-called "change in régime", to everything that
happens in the circus ring in which this production is largely set (provided
by the Metropolitan Grand Circus, that stands between Budapest's Zoo and the
neighbouring Funfair, with its merry-go-rounds, big dippers and Ferris wheels).
Led by director Árpád Schilling, himself not yet thirty, Krétakör is the youngest
and, alongside the József Katona Theatre, most exportable of the theatre companies
now operating in the country. The company receives support from international
foundations, festivals and theatrical institutions, and has presented some
of its earlier productions in Paris, Avignon, Berlin, and Rome, and some of
them were even premiered abroad. At present it has no permanent home in Budapest
and thus has to find premises for each of its productions. The world premiere
of Mylandmyland was thus staged at the Théâtre Bobigny MC93 in Paris, and
the production will be touring a string of cities in France, Switzerland and
Spain up until June 2003.
By no coincidence at all, the first Hungarian performance took place on 23rd
October, 2002, the anniversary of the 1956 Revolution, as Krétakör has laid
down an explicit policy of timing its premieres to national holidays, with
the aim of heightening the political topicality of its productions. "Theatre
has been in huge upheaval in Hungary over the past thirteen years," Schilling
has commented on the historical period embraced by this production, "because
prior to that it knew exactly how to deal with politics, and on what side
it should stand. After that it was nonplussed, unsure about that aspect, and
stories about private life became the new focus of interest, until a period
again came round when it seemed worthwhile to make a politicised theatre once
more, but that has mostly happened surreptitiously, by reinterpreting classical
plays..." Krétakör's production, by way of contrast, refers to specific events
from the past decade or so in which we Hungarians, well-known politicians
and "anonymous civilians" alike, participated. For all that, everything and
everybody is recognisable, the staging itself is stylised, proceeding with
the devices of the circus in the form of a succession of turns from clowns,
acrobats, animal tamers (and animals), etc. - all enhanced by a potpourri of
parodies of opera, operetta and folk music supplied as background music by
a band perched over the ring.
This is a series of mischievously self-deprecating, taboo-breaking provocations
directed against the arrogance of the powerful, bootlicking deference, nationalism,
xenophobia, hypocritical clericalism, slavish kow-towing to the West, and
inferiority complexes which seek compensation in an overweening sense of mission.
Representing the national colours are three symbolic figures - Red, White, and
Green - in whom it is possible to discern three former prime ministers of the
post-Communist era, their actions and mannerisms being caricatures of the
individuals concerned. Equally getting a deserved comeuppance are the pseudo-democrats
thrown up by "socialism" who exploited the ideals of the "change" to feather
their own nests, building up their own coteries of willing clients. The western
European sense of superiority, humbugging with the emblems of NATO and the
EU and eastern European provincialism are both made to look ludicrous. One
sees the surfeit in which the political élite indulges, on the one hand, and
the country's ingrained poverty on the other; rampant consumer advertising
along with the disfranchised poor reduced to devouring their own birthright;
the idiocy of folklorism, historicism and operetta reality along with the
failure of freedom to guarantee a basic quality of life.
The production is a salutary example of the kind of demythologised self-examination
that has long had a place in the cultures of more level-headed nations.
A charivari confected with Rabelaisian mockery and gusto from aesthetic canvas,
fairground brashness, and a plebeian view of the world. The actors work with
remarkable precision, choreographic discipline and devotion, reaping the dividends
of careful preparation, maintaining their individuality even as they blend
into the ensemble. Especially rewarding is the high ground of morality and
conscience that the play secures with its attack on ideologies, which allows
it to deliver its jolts to society. Some, not seeing it quite that way, have
accused the production of vilifying the nation. At the very least, then, it
has brought the breath of lively controversy into the theatrical life of the
country.
Tamás Koltai
editor of Színház, a theatre monthly, is The Hungarian Quarterly's regular
theatre critic.
