'The performance of Death Rode out of Persia looks upon a twentieth century Hungarian cult novel of the same title (1979), but from a twenty-first century perspective. The novel is about the everyday life of a young artist, who is the alter-ego of the author, Péter Hajnóczy. He is the archetype of the Eastern-European artist; an alcoholic living a self-destructive life. While the novel is about losing control, the stage version is a consciously structured multimedia performance. It is a production by the DoN’t Eat Group company, and a collaboration between director and puppet theatre director Zita Szenteczki and multimedia artist András Juhász. The use of intermediary tools in this beautiful and spectacular show help to place and see different dimensions of normality side by side. It is a short love story of a philistine girl and a boy, who is following the ideal of the Eastern European romantic artist. The projections allow and encourage us to see, side by side, the visual projections of their different world views. The loop technique transports us into the delirious state of remembering and creating. The two performers, Nóra Rainer-Micsinyei and Péter Jankovics, both used to be members of the former Sputnik Shipping Company led by Viktor Bodó.' Noémi Herczog, curator

We regret to inform you, that due to the tight schedule of dunaPart performances in Trafó and the spatial and technical requirements of this performance, we cannot present it on this Platform. Nevertheless, we hope that the film version will compensate our guests to some extent.

CREDITS

Performed by Péter JANKOVICS, Katalin TAKÁCS, Nóra RAINER-MICSINYEI, Júlia HADI, István DIÁK, Lili RAUBINEK, Viola LÉVAI, Mátyás Péter SZABÓ

Choreography by Júlia HADI
Dramaturg: Bence BÍRÓ
Cameraman: András TÁBOROSI, Bernadette MAYER
Composer: Zsolt SŐRÉS
Light design: Tamás BÁNYAI
Set and costumes: István DIÁK
Media design: András JUHÁSZ
Boom: Ádám JÁVORKA
Video technic: Vivid Illusions
Lights: Kata DÉZSI
Sound: Máté BREDÁN, Gábor KERESZTES
Directed by Zita SZENTECZKI, András JUHÁSZ

Zita Szenteczki

...graduated in 2016 from the University of Theater and Film Arts, Department of Puppetry. Since 2018 she has been a student of the Doctoral School. Her research topic is the operation of very personal, documentarist stories together with well-known myths on stage. In her first year she dealt mainly with the stage adaptation of diaries. She travels unrestrictedly across a variety of genres. Her performances take place in subsidized theatres, as well as in independent theatres, and she also directs musical and theatre educational performances. Her main focus is on the appearance of personal stories on stage, which feature both poetry and sarcastic black humour. She often stages novels, poems, paintings, diaries, and documentary texts. At the age of twenty-eight, the young theatre director already boasts a line of remarkable performances in which she fuses fine art, theater, puppetry, film, and music. In November this year, she will hold an international workshop in Budapest for French, German and Hungarian high school students, on the subject of exclusion and inclusion.
In September 2019 she founded the independent company Narrativa together with directors Dániel Kovács D., Máté Hegymegi and Andrea Pass.

András Juhász 

...is a video, film and multimedia artist based in Budapest. He studied at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. As a creator, he specializes in theatrical media design and in the creation of independent art projects such as video installations and audio-visual performances.
He works regularly with theatre directors: Tamás Ascher, Viktor Bodó, Ildikó Gáspár, Péter Halász, and Vilmos Vajdai. These collaborative projects have taken place in various European cities such as Budapest, Graz, Gothenburg, Mainz, Heidelberg, and Karlsruhe. In 2019 he was a member of the creative team representing Hungary at the Prague Quadriennale of Performance, Design, and Space. Their installation, Infinite Dune, won the award of Best Exhibition for Countries and Regions.
He is also a lecturer in visual design at the Moholy-Nagy University.

The DoN’t Eat Group independent laboratory was formed in 2006 under the leadership of András Juhász. This group is a collective of artists with a special focus on cinematographic and audiovisual performance. 
Their performances are real-time, multi-layered visual and musical improvisations. Their work is a continuous exploration of aesthetic principles on the frontiers of new technologies, such as loop film storytelling.
Apart from clubs, they have performed at major festivals too, including the Temps d’Image Festival 2007 Budapest, Screenplay Festival 2011 Berlin CHB, Parkinprogress at Arcus Temporum Festival 2012 Pannonhalma, OpenDays Festival 2013 Aalborg and Aarhus, Live Cinema Festival 2017 Rome, and Zsolnay Light Festival 2019 Pécs. The group has collaborated with Hungarian actors, contemporary dancers and experimental and improvisation musicians such as Franz Hautzinger (Vienna, A) and Christian Skjødt (Copenhagen, DK).
Members: István Diák (visual design) Zsolt Sőrés (Musican) András Juhász (Concept)