It's touching that such serious personalities, artists and directors who are indisputably decisive in their own fields, from almost the entire cultural life, indicate to me that they support me and that it would be important for me to stay - says Attila Vidnyánszky, the general director of the National Theatre, in the interview.
Later this week, the set of Romeo and Juliet will be restored to the main stage at the National Theater in order to model for the investigations what could have gone wrong on the tragic evening, before the accident of the two actors. The theater's own investigation will run parallel to the police investigation in order to find out why the sequence of movements that the two injured actors had already performed at least a hundred times in dozens of successful performances failed.
The theater's own internal investigation has begun regarding the accident on Friday evening. What can be known about it, who are the participants and how long it is expected to last?
Yes, it really started, we tried to put together the investigation committee in such a way that it included specialists from all kinds of fields, obviously mainly representatives of the theater shifts. We will put up the set this week, if only because a police investigation has also started, which I am personally very happy about. They also asked for the construction of the set, so the two examinations can be held together. We build the set and model what happened.
The process has started, and I would like to conclude the case as soon as possible, but no matter how much time it takes, I am not in a hurry.
Minister János Csák visited the injured actors in the hospital. How are they, how are they handling the situation?
Considering the circumstances, they are doing well, and the head doctor also made an encouraging statement about their condition. As far as we know, the two artists will be released this week and their recovery can continue at home.
In addition to physical healing, it is of course very important to take care of their soul and to make them feel that the company stands behind them as one person. We welcome them back, love them very much and miss them very much.
Along with the fact that it will certainly not be an easy process in addition to their physical recovery, nor will their mental recovery after such a trauma. We have contacted several psychologists so that the two victims of the accident feel our love and concern, but they can also start the path of recovery with specialists if needed. Psychologists will of course help all members of our company, we ensure that all our theater workers can process this great common trauma.
A company meeting took place on Monday.
Yes, I called you. I knew I had to talk to the actors, I was waiting for the medical results, how the operations would go. Knowing this, I called the meeting for Monday.
Due to the injury of the two actors, it will be necessary to change the repertoire and postpone some shows. How do you see this going at the moment?
We are talking about two very important members of the troupe, who play in half of the repertoire. In addition, with really big roles, there are performances in which they cannot be replaced, such as with Lajos Ottó Horváth in Rex or Agón. There are plays where the exchange is possible and these had to be done in order for the theater to start playing. We had to cancel many performances now, and this is very, very bad, and the auditorium is filled between 95 and 97 percent, so the theater is doing well, these are intense months.
We need to renew our performances as soon as possible, we need to do jump-in rehearsals, but it is obvious that the role of Juliet in, say, Romeo and Juliet - played by Júlia Szász - is a very serious artistic achievement. I have yet to consider whether or not we will go into substitution.
As a result of the accident, we are postponing the presentation of the Golden-Haired Three, because the conditions are not suitable for continuing the calm creative work that we started with the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble in connection with this piece. On the other hand, we are still preparing for our other two upcoming shows - Mama Kurázsi directed by the Greek Theodórosz Terzopoulos and Revizor by the Georgian Avtandil Varzimasvili. Roles need to be modified there as well, but these are still feasible changes. In addition, this period would normally be the period of planning for the next season, so a lot of things are changing now. I also had to make decisions regarding the beginning of the next season, since we do not agree with foreign directors overnight, we work with artists with whom we have long-term contracts and negotiations. This unfortunate event has understandably turned the life of our theater upside down, but at the same time, the point is that our injured actors recover and return to us as soon as possible.
After the resignation announced by you, the messages of encouragement from the actors of the Hungarian cultural life are coming one after the other. How does this affect you?
It is touching that such serious personalities, artists and directors, who are indisputably decisive in their own fields, from almost the entire cultural life, indicate to me that they support me and that it would be important for me to stay. But at least as touching are the hundreds of e-mails and text messages, many of which I don't even know who sent them.
It's heartwarming that so many people support the theater and me from Budapest, from foreign areas, from the countryside and from abroad, and show how important we are.
Today I received the letter of support signed by the vast majority of the company, and this is a serious feedback for me. Regarding the accident, I would like to mention an equally uplifting detail: I would like to express my gratitude to the internist Judit Balázsovics and resident Markó Csanád who were on the scene on the night of the accident, who rushed to the stage immediately after the two actors fell and helped throughout. Things might be different without them, wonderful people. This is what I say I believe in: this country is made up of people like this, and it is people like this who should be made into a show and a film.
In certain areas of the performing arts, the employment contract also includes a declaration of responsibility. Are they not planning to introduce this in theater life?
We are thinking about it, there are theaters where this is already used, where they sign that the actor does certain movements or scenes at his own risk. Until now, we have not had this, but now we are rethinking the entire repertoire: we will not only try to improve the possibly problematic parts of this performance, to make everything even safer.
I would like to emphasize that these actors have already performed the sequence of movements that just failed a hundred times, in dozens of successful performances. At the same time, the risk must be minimized, and therefore we are reviewing our entire repertoire.
Of course, I know that certain things are unavoidable: in a lowering-lifting system, where there is a five-meter difference in level, as our stage technology is capable of, where there are about seventy independent lowering elements, you cannot put a limit on all of them. The theater is a dangerous business, and it is difficult to rule out such cases 100%. And it's painful that they only talk about the actors, because there are also deaths: for example, among the shift workers, they should also be talked about. That's what theater and the circus are like, people take risks, and that's one of the reasons why the audience loves them: I'm up there with that artist, and I fly with them, I identify with them. And you need a sense of risk for catharsis. However, the sources of danger must be minimized.
It was brought up that several people indicated that they considered the sets of Romeo and Juliet to be risky.
It didn't reach me. Now it turned out that there was one among the actors who, during the week of the main rehearsal, that is, two years ago, had indicated to the shift that there was a part that might have to be played, but it was not possible to do so due to the conditions of the Iron Curtain. This information did not reach me at the time. I feel that many people are now taking advantage of this situation and launched a sexless attack against the theater and my person.
I think now is not the time for the usual bickering.
Featured image: András Éberling/Hungarian Nation
