In the first month of the year, the Csokonai National Theatre in Debrecen offers visitors an exceptional diversity of genres: audiences can enjoy a large-scale musical production, contemporary and classical dramas, as well as light yet thought-provoking comedies.
According to the statement, the highlight of the month is the premiere of János vitéz, the musical play by Pongrác Kacsóh.
“Sándor Petőfi’s iconic narrative poem is a shared cultural experience for generations. Now, under the direction of Szabolcs Fejes, with the visual world created by László Erkel ‘Kentaur’ and a stellar cast including Péter Sándor, Levente Molnár, Marika Oszvald and the ensemble of the Csokonai National Theatre, it comes to life once again,” they said.
In addition to the Csokonai ensemble, the large-scale production also features the Kodály Choir, the Lautitia Choir Family, the Kodály Philharmonic Orchestra and young dancers. The premiere will take place on January 16.
A similarly powerful theatrical experience is promised by Martin McDonagh’s play The Cripple. The meeting of grotesque humour and painful human destinies comes alive in Debrecen in the direction of Iván Hargitai. Through the character of Billy (Zsolt Csata), who stands at the centre of the story, the play explores whether there is a real possibility of breaking out of a closed, ruthless environment and what price must be paid for dreams. The excellent cast sensitively balances between humour and tragedy, the theatre’s statement said.
One of the most thought-provoking premieres of the month is Jean Genet’s drama The Maids, directed by Andrea Tokai. Written more than seventy years ago, the play still speaks with striking precision about power, subjugation and the distorting force of desire. Staged in the Árpád Kóti Hall of the Csokonai Forum, the production does not let the audience go, as it “confronts us with our own inner demons and how easily we can become prisoners of our roles,” they wrote.
The series of January premieres concludes with Peter Shaffer’s comedy Black Comedy, which sheds light—both literally and figuratively—on human weaknesses. The innovative stage play built around darkness, directed by Zoltán Lendvai, “offers uproarious situational comedy and subtle self-irony.”
The theatre also announced that in January, Pál Ábrahám’s Viktória will return to the stage with Katalin Benedekffy in the title role.
On January 21, on the eve of the Day of Hungarian Culture, the theatre will commemorate Ilona Várhalmi, a pioneering figure in drama education, with an awards gala.
The Csokonai Salon with Anna Juhász also continues, where she will remember her father, poet Ferenc Juhász, together with her guests. This will be followed by the concert-theatre performance of the monumental poem The Cry of the Boy Who Turned into a Stag at the Gate of Secrets, directed by Miklós Vecsei H., at the Csokonai Theatre, they added.
(MTI)
