Focus on the new generation, Ferenc Elek received the Máthé Erzsi Award, and next year Dorottya Udvaros will also take the stage. On June 14, 2024, we held our season-ending meeting.
Photos: Horváth Máté
Máté Horváth, marketing manager, is leaving Katona József Theater after five years, and Annamari Kazimir, the communications officer and video editor, is leaving after eleven years.
Gábor Máté stated: In Katona's 41st season, it was of paramount importance to position and spotlight the young talents contracted in recent years and to engage the young audience.
Several highly successful premieres, such as EMBTRAG, Extasy, Mephistoland, and the classroom performance of Fatelessness, provided opportunities for the new members to make memorable debuts. Gábor Máté highlighted the particular pleasure of seeing Jakab Tarnóczi's direction of Extasy attract a new, younger audience segment to the theater. Two original video series were also produced this year—EZMEGKI?! and Good vibes only? with Tilla —aimed at helping the audience get to know the Katona ensemble's artists from the Y and Z generations better and addressing the key questions and issues that concern them. At the second Csinibaba Táncdalfesztivál, which was also a huge success in 2024, these new artists, along with others, showcased their talents to nearly 9,000 spectators at Budapest Park.
This year, the theater's three venues saw a total of 505 performances with an attendance rate of 103%, attracting approximately 96,000 viewers. Ferenc Elek performed the most frequently, appearing on stage 164 times, followed by Dávid Vizi with 163 performances, and Bence Tasnádi with 140 performances.
As per tradition, we presented the internal artistic awards. The Máthé Erzsi Award, established twenty-one years ago by Erzsi Máthé and given for outstanding performance during the season, was awarded to Ferenc Elek. Based on the company's votes, Andrea Fullajtár received the PUKK Award for the best performance with fewer than thirty lines of dialogue for her role in Kedd.
According to the plans, the first premiere of the 2024/25 season will be held in September, followed by two more in October.
In September, the audience will see Antal Bálint's "Sárszeg", part of the Sufni-projekt II., while Gábor Máté directs Lajos Jánossy's Our lives, here in Kamra. Concurrently, Jakab Tarnóczi is preparing a production titled Radical Relax for the Main stage. The premieres of the latter two are expected in mid-October.
The series of premieres continues in mid-December: as part of the Sufni-projekt III., Máté Szilvay is directing Scenes from the life of the Stuck family by Oana Hodade, while Júlia Bagossy stages the adaptation of Péter Hajnóczy's novel Death Rode Out of Persia in Sufni. The final premiere of the calendar year at Katona will feature the latest play by Ferdinand von Schirach, directed by Kriszta Székely, with guest artist Dorottya Udvaros appearing in the production.
The second half of the season is planned as follows: in April 2025, Orsolya Fodor's production based on Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, as part of the Sufni Project III. Simultaneously, Balázs Dohy directs Execution, a play co-conceived with Zsombor Aurél Biró, in Kamra. Finally, the season concludes with Tamás Ascher staging Summer, a work by Goldoni, at Katona.
Our theatre education program, Behívó, concluded another intensive year. We continued with workshops linked to performances, notably the series associated with EMBTRAG, where young participants created a production scheduled for next year's lineup. Following The Glass Wall, another classroom performance emerged: Júlia Bagossy directed Nobel Prize-winning author Imre Kertész's Fatelessness. We aim to bring this production to more high schools next year. A significant program was the collaboration between Rákospalotai Leánynevelő Intézet and Katona's community theatre project, where institutional girls and Budapest civilians worked alongside Katona's artists. Andrea Fullajtár joined Behívó's team this season. Although the theatre officially concludes the season in mid-month, Behívó prepares for the June 24-28th Youperform international festival in Budapest. Youth from five countries will collaborate, sharing their views on the world and theatre.
The professional acknowledgments and achievements of the 2023/24 season:
Andrea Fullajtár - Member of the Széchenyi Literary and Artistic Academy
Jakab Tarnóczi - Junior Prima Award
Találkozás (dir. Marcell Török) - Award for Most Original Artistic Expression, Papageno Special Award - ESzínház Festival
László Lacek Tóth, stage manager of Kamra - Hero of Budapest and Katona József Theatre
Adél Jordán - Arany Medál Award
János Bán - Excellent Artist of Hungary Award
János Bán - Jiři Menzel Foundation, Arnoštek Award
Ági Szirtes - Honorary Member of the Immortals Company
Marcell Török - Student Jury Award - Friss Hús Budapest International Short Film Festival
Guest appearances in Hungary and abroad:
2024 February: Othello - Torino
2024 April: Fatelessness - Pannonhalma Benedictine Gymnasium
2024 June: Fatelessness - Blue Bird Festival, Kalocsa
2024 June: Lonely People - National Theatre Meeting, Kaposvár
In February 2024, a special non-stage presentation took place: the marzipan sculptor of Szamos Marcipán created a scale model of the set of EMBTRAG using marzipan. This unique artwork was displayed in the foyer for a month and then moved to the Szamos Marcipán Múzeum in Szentendre from March onwards. As part of this collaboration, since December 2023, the Szamos Katona: Kocka has been available in six flavors at the K:antin.
Tickets for the August-September-October program will be available for purchase starting July 15th at 12:00 on the katona.jegymester.hu website.
