Balogh's theatre troupe has done much to promote tolerance toward refugees arriving in Hungary through the staging Mirad: A Boy From Bosnia, the UNHCR said. The piece, which premiered in May 2005, has been performed 54 times so far.
"The story might as well be about Jews, Kurds, Afghans, Palestinians, Iraqis or Gypsies," says Balogh. "The point is that the characters' peaceful civil lives are suddenly upset when the war begins."
"The idea for Dutch author Ad de Bont's play came from the acts of ethnic cleansing that become more and more frequent in Kosovo after 1990 and that eventually led to the war in the Balkans. The Serbian authorities tried to keep Croatia, Slovenia, and the smaller member states from seceding from Yugoslavia - or at least to impede the process - by inciting conflicts between the different ethnic and religious groups, so a lot of ethnically mixed families fell prey to hostility," Balogh notes.
"Although there is no war in Hungary, ethnic and religious discrimination does exist," he adds.
The main characters in the play are three "Yugoslavs" staying at a Dutch refugee camp: the Serbian Djuka (Szabolcs Jáger), his Croatian wife Fazila (Erika Gergely), and their cousin Mirad (Gábor Jászberényi).
The Hungarian UNHCR office established the Refugee Award in 1995 to recognise efforts to improve the plight of asylum seekers and refugees. The award has been granted to Hungarian television broadcaster Duna Televízió, the City of Budapest and the Budapest Municipal Court.
Balogh said his actors would receive part of the HUF 500,000 prize which accompanies the award, and the rest would be used to show the production at more venues, "where it is really needed and where it is likely to have an impact."
Author: Gabriella Valaczkay
