After a two-year break in Esztergom, the capital of the Danube Bend, the Esztergom Castle Theater, which has been operating for 35 years, has started its summer program series for theater-loving audiences on the outdoor stage in the shadow of the basilica. This summer too, a diverse and varied theater and music program will be presented, Hungarian theater and Hungarian theater from abroad are also guests here every year. On July 2, the premiere took place on the outdoor stage of the old walls.
The first performance took place in the co-production of the Sopron Theater and the Esztergom Castle Theater under the title "God's Comedy". The play is the work of Imre Katona and is about the life of Saint Francis of Assisi.
The title character is Attila Papp, Anikó Klárát Molnár, and László Horányi, winner of the Jászai Mari Award, plays Cardinal Ugulino. The composer is Gyula Szarka, winner of the Kossuth Prize. Ferenc Károly Eperjes' father and III. He plays Pope Ince. The director is László Béres.
The special feature of the performance, which was co-produced by the Petőfi Theater in Sopron and the Castle Theater in Esztergom, was that this time the set was the castle theater. The built heritage, the centuries-old walls, provided the background for the story, which presented the life and fate of St. Francis in short scenes like a film.
The actors played more than forty characters with bravura transformations. The fast-paced scenes, the snappy dialogues, the energetic, powerful, high-quality playing of the artists, the effective, dynamic direction, the images that come to life, the atmosphere and message of the performance turned the production into a real theatrical experience that evokes catharsis, the costume world of which was designed by Ágnes Gyarmathy, winner of the Munkácsy Prize he dreamed it.
Imre Kossuth award-winning artist Imre Boráros from Felvidék also played in the play, and Gyula Szarka's music was also an excellent background to the play.
Imre Katona's large-format play, consisting of three acts and 81 scenes, presents the unique story of St. Francis of Assisi based on the oldest documents and biographies recorded by contemporaries. In addition to the biographical elements, it presents what is going on in the soul and imagination of the protagonist. The author tells the story in film-like images, revealing the entirety of the testimony.
The author of the play, the leading dramaturg of the theater in Sopron, worked on his work with major interruptions for more than thirty years. During his emigration in Italy, he began to study the life of Saint Francis more deeply. The XIII. he also read century sources for this.
As he put it: For eight hundred years, we have seen the popular figure of St. Francis of Assisi among the greatest in the history of Christianity.
Károly Eperjes/Source: Esztergom Castle Theatre
And why is this work relevant?
It is possible to live without faith, but it is not worth it. László Béres, director of the play God's comedy about the mystery play: The universal, eternal human values such as love, goodness, peace, acceptance, and understanding appear in this play. These can be found in different cultures and religions to this day, and can be experienced by the audience in the auditorium.
The play had a special premiere in Esztergom, which appeared as a performance with a unique experience and spectacle. This time, the scenery was provided by the walls of the castle theater. In this space, the story took place in a city where the first monastery of the Franciscan order, later its center, was established in the 1200s, when II. King Endre settled the followers of Saint Francis in Esztergom. The world-changing story of one of the greatest figures of Christianity comes to life here, with the proximity of the spirit of the place, and from autumn, the new season of the theater in Sopron will begin with this work.
In Esztergom, the performance was performed with the castle theater as the playing field, the stone wall as the background, and the actors sat in a circle on the stage, and thus entered and exited their roles and the story.
It was a dynamic, intense game. The audience stood up and applauded the performance. The premiere was a great success and a memorable celebration in the completely filled auditorium, creating real catharsis for the viewers.
Source: Felvidék.ma
Featured image: Esztergom Castle Theatre
