The goal of the festival, which is the brainchild of the Csokonai Theatre's former director János Csányi, is to support plays as a form of literature, to raise the profile of the theater and to evaluate plays.
The playwright Csaba Kiss says that just as important as the plays themselves is the chance the festival offers theatre professionals to discuss pertinent questions about the art form today. These talks involve both Hungarians and foreigners who work in theatre, and they sometimes last long into the night, he adds.
Kiss notes that just a tiny fraction of the 2,000 plays written in Hungary since the fall of communism have been performed on state. But he says the chances of new play being performed have grown since the Ministry of Education and Culture started its annual Katona József tender, which awards grants to support productions of new plays.
Kiss says contemporary Hungarian plays can be grouped into two categories: socio-graphic works that brutally show reality, and the lyrical theatre, which puts a poetic spin on reality. Hungarian writers are returning to the latter trend, he says.
Csokonai Theatre director Attila Vidnyánszky said that, thanks to the support of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the local council of Debrecen, the theatre would have to cover just one-third of the cost of the festival. The city and ministry will share, in equal part, the remaining costs. Last year, he added, the theatre had to cover the entire cost of the festival itself.
Theatre historian Nina Király said the festival aims to become more and more international, as seen by the number of foreign theatre professionals invited this year.
This year's festival will feature performances of play by Mihály Kornis, Zsolt Pozsgai, János Térey, Andor Szilágyi, Magda Szabó, Tibor Zalán, Csaba Kiss, Károly Szakonyi and György Spiró. Vidnyánszky's adaptation of a novel by Zsigmond Móricz will also be staged.
Author: Katalin Metz
