Although the production at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre is still too fresh for the critics to have had their say, the premiere on Wednesday drew a capacity crowd, and theatre staff had to bring out the folding chairs. Tickets for the play have been sold out since dress rehearsals in July.
Theatre director Oleg Tabakov, very pleased with Szász?s work, has already invited the Hungarian director back to the theatre for another production.
Szász has already directed his own rendering of Bulgakov?s classic novel ?Master and Margarita? in Hungary, but he rewrote the piece for the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre.
Actors in the production said earlier that Szász?s methods are different from those they are used to, but they added that he ?knows the novel better? than they do.
Tatyana Kirsch, a professor of Russian language and literature, called the production ?great, and amazingly novel?. She especially liked the faithful rendering of the text of the classic book.
?János Szász is not a guest worker in the theatre but a member of the family,? said Tabakov after seeing the production for the seventh time. There is no production like it in Moscow at the time, he added.
Szász said many changes were made to the production in just a few days after the dress rehearsals in July. He praised the actors in Moscow and said the atmosphere was extraordinarily healthy.
Szász said he would happily return to the Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre anytime but could not say what he would bring to the stage.
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
