At the beginning of the event, the Municipality of Budapest, represented by Dr. Anett Bősz, deputy mayor in charge of human affairs, presented jubilee awards to the staff members who have been working for our company for 40 years; Erika Bodnár, János Bán, Ági Szirtes, László Szacsvay, Dénes Ujlaki, Gábor Zsámbéki, as well as Györgyike Horváth, auditorium supervisor and Margó Kádár, accountant.
Gábor Máté said, "the theatre's more than four decades of existence, its enduring existence, is perhaps even more important than ever in the cultural policy headwinds that make our everyday lives more difficult. Especially when we consider the ongoing social, environmental and economic challenges. The disproportionate, biased distribution of cultural funding and the total bleeding of independents are also inescapable, and the way in which existential vulnerability is legitimising the power techniques of current cultural policy in ever more unexpected quarters is painfully obvious. The director quoted from a critique of the film Hadik by sociologist György Csepeli, published in Mozgó Világ:
"If the power which organises society chooses the path of arbitrariness instead of law, sooner or later the moment will come when it will need well-paid men whose task it will be to make the subject believe that what exists is the best of all worlds, that the system in which we are given to live works without them but for them, preferably for eternity... It is easier for the authoritarian when, in order to maintain his power, he renounces open oppression and instead leaves it to his subjects to love their oppressors. There is no need for dictatorship, hegemony will do, bloodlessly and painlessly forgiving the oppressed their otherwise painful lack of freedom."
With our planned shows, we are starting the 2023/2024 season with the attitude that we continue to believe that theatre cannot lose its power to shape society, even in turbulent times that have been ongoing for years. And the company's existence, cherished even in difficult circumstances, is a great asset and a stronghold on this difficult path - added Gábor Máté.
As we announced earlier, this year Bernát Gloviczki, Balázs Jakab, Kanyó Kata, Dániel Pásztor, students of the Fullajtár-Zsámbéki and later Jákfalvi-Tárnoki classes, as well as dramaturg Ármin Szabó-Székely will join our company.
At Monday's event, the Vastaps awards were handed out. The award is sponsored by Mastercard.
Best Director: Jakab Tarnóczi (Lonely People)
Best Actress in a Leading Role: Adél Jordán (Hedda Gabler)
Best Actor in a Leading Role: Benjámin Lengyel (Lonely People)
Best Supporting Actress - Réka Pelsőczy (Lonely People)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Béla Mészáros (Hedda Gabler, Ten Eskimos, The Water Hen)
Special prize: Balázs Dohy (The Politicians)
2023/24 will be launched on 7 October: Gergely Kocsis' Tuesday will be directed by the author in the Kamra. In parallel, Kriszta Székely, in collaboration with Ármin Szabó-Székely, is preparing a performance of Imre Madách's classic The Tragedy of Man, Embtrag - Seek the Lord while He May Be Found, which will premiere on the main stage on 8 October.
Two more premieres will be held at the end of the calendar year. On 15 December, the audience will see Boris Vian's Autumn in Peking in the Kamra, adapted by Kornél Laboda and director Balázs Fehér Benő. This will be followed on 16 December by the premiere of Ecstasy directed by Jakab Tarnóczi on the main stage. The script is co-written by the director and dramaturg Zsófia Varga.
The second half of the season is as follows:
With a premiere at the end of February 2024, Réka Pelsőczy will produce a stage version of Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure at the Belvárosi Színház. The production is a collaboration between Katona and Orlai Production.
Also in February, Júlia Bagossy will stage Imre Kertész's autobiographical novel Fatelessness (Sorstalanság) as a classroom production at Sufni, with the participation of Katona artists. The performance will be shown in Sufni as well as in schools. The production is part of Behívó's theatre education programme.
On 25 April, as part of the Sufni Project II, we invite you to the premiere of Psyché. The script of the play was co-written by Lilla Kizlinger and Zsombor Aurél Bíró. The mentoring programme is led by Gábor Zsámbéki.
At the same time, Péter Horváth's play Jóccakát will be staged by Tamás Ascher at the Kamra. The premiere will take place on 26 April. On the following day, 27 April, the audience will see the production of Mephistoland directed by András Dömötör on the main stage. The adaptation is written by the director, Kornél Laboda and Albert Benedek.
The last new production of the 2023/24 season is expected to premiere in June. Also as part of the Sufni Project II, Bálint Antal will produce a production entitled Sárszeg - World Change, based on Dezső Kosztolányi's novel The Golden Dragon. The adaptation will be made together with dramaturg Sára Törley-Havas.