The Hilda Gobbi lifetime achievement award, presented by the MASZK National Actors? Association, went to Pál Turgonyi of Budapest?s Attila József Theatre; and two young actors were given newcomers? awards: Patrícia Kuthy from Nyíregyháza and Zalán Makranczi from Kecskemét.
World Theatre Day was created in 1961 by the International Theatre Institute (ITI).
It is celebrated annually on the 27th of March by ITI Centres and the international theatre community. While theatre events are organized all around the world to coincide with World Theatre Day, the celebration?s hallmark event is a message written by a great stage personality and read around the world. The first World Theatre Day International Message was written by Jean Cocteau. This year?s message, entitled ?A Ray of Hope? was written by Mexican playwright Víctor Hugo Rascon Banda. Banda?s message was read by actor András Bálint on Hungarian Television on Monday.
?Technology tried to turn the theatre into a firework display or a fairground sideshow. Now we are witnessing the return of actors before audiences. Today, we are seeing the return of words to the stage. The theatre has renounced mass communication and recognized its inherent limits; two beings facing each other, communicating feelings, emotions, dreams and hopes. Scenic art is relinquishing story-telling in favor of discussing ideas,? Banda said in his message, describing a changing trend in theatre.
He went on to outline the theatre?s weighty task, as well as that of the theatergoer: ?Gods and men used to speak to one another on the stage, but now men speak to other men. Therefore, the theatre must be grander and better than life itself. Theatre is an act of faith in the value of a wise word in an insane world. It is a demonstration of faith in human beings who are responsible for their destiny. We have to experience the theatre in order to understand what is happening to us, to transmit the pain and suffering that is all around us, but also to glimpse a ray of hope in the chaos and nightmare of our daily lives.?
Source: Hungarian Press Agency (MTI), International Theatre Institute (ITI)
