Opened: 2022
In Hungarian with English subtitles
18+

“Don Juan, or the Labour of Fathers, a co-production between the Jókai Theatre in Komárno (Slovakia) and the Szkéné Theatre in Budapest, takes a strikingly free approach to the Don Juan myth, rewritten and revisited in Western drama for hundreds of years. Director Péter István Nagy, in his version co-written with Ádám Fekete, has thoroughly subverted the story by including in his uninhibited version of the text jokes that respond to contemporary Hungarian public life as well as a deviation towards the absurd. The overwhelming momentum and striking, emphatically contemporary visuals of the performance rhyme with the agitated linguistic layers. The production also departs from Molière’s and Mozart’s versions at crucial points, while incorporating traces of their insights, bringing the whole tradition into play. And the driving force behind the whole, dynamic and highly impulsive production is Ákos Orosz in the title role - it is as if the entire show was created for him. All-knowing and all-seeing, always ready for trickery and cunning, he can easily wrap men and women alike around his finger. His Don Juan is a true mediator, who captures the disturbingly contemporary aspects of the classic story in his explosive performance.” Tamás Jászay, curator

CREDITS

Don Juan - Ákos Orosz
Sganarelle, servant to Don Juan - Viktor Szabó
The Commander - Tibor Skronka
Donna Anna, the Commander's daughter - Vica Kerekes
Don Ottavio, Donna Anna's fiancée - István Olasz
Donna Elvira - Szilvia Kiss
Rozi, a waitress - Kata Kanyó
Zsuzsi, a waitress and Matyi's fiancée - Luca Viktória Jeney
Matyi, fiancée and beggar - Attila Matusek
Szakia, a cook- Máté Hunyadi
Don Juan's son underground - Márton Béhr

Set: Botond Devich
Costume: Luca Szabados
Musical consultant: Máté Hunyadi
Lights: Silvia Rózsás, Csaba Zachar
Sound: Tamás Csicsó, Kristián Števko
Props: Viktória Bajcsi, Gertrúd Hegedűs
Hair, makeup: Boglárka Varga
Translation: Ádám Fekete (EN)
Interpretation: Emma Vidovszky (EN)
Prompter: Dóra Leczkési
Stage manager: László Nagy
Assistant to the director: Dorka Dicső, Edit Balaskó
Directed by: Péter István Nagy
CO-PRODUCERS: Szkéné Theatre Budapest, Jókai Theatre, Komárno (SK)

|| 18+, smoke, strong light effects ||

REVIEWS

“An incredibly fresh, unbridled and raw, youthful and witty cantering rodeo in the realm of compulsive seductions and hasty rendezvous. If you can keep up with the pace and the sharp turns, whether you like it or not, you will come face-to-face with yourself in the series of surreal mocking glasses.”
Gábor Csatádi, Pótszékfoglaló.hu

“The myth and the modern adaptation share one more thing: Don Juan is extremely charismatic. We simply can’t take our eyes off him. The other characters, who move in a grotesque way, freeze into poses, speak with an exaggerated rhythm and pronunciation, are all extras of his world. He has full control over the reality of the stage, he controls the lights, he acts as a puppeteer when he feels like it or interrupts a scene to talk to the audience. Let’s talk to him. This show is a must-see.”
Johanna E. Székelyhidi, Prae.hu

Péter István Nagy 

… got his BA in Psychology before he enrolled at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in Budapest, where he graduated as a director specialised in physical theatre. His work is, consequently, very physical and very visual. He seeks a balance of drama - human characters, situations and dialogues - movement, music, and, very often, live video. Although he is engaged in experimenting with the form of theatre and his creation is, most of all, a clear statement of a certain theatre aesthetic, his work isn’t “ethereal” or detached from reality, and can be very political, too. Together with his dramaturg/author partners, they either adapt classics or create their own pieces. Between 2016 and 2020, he was artistic director at Soltis Lajos Theatre. Since 2020, he has been working at Radnóti Miklós Theatre and Weöres Sándor Theatre, as a director and a member of the artistic advisory board at both institutions. He also teaches courses at the University of Theatre and Film Arts for the last class admitted before the model change.

Ádám Fekete 

… was born in 1991 in Budapest. He took the final exam at the University of Theatre and Film Arts in the theatre dramaturgy class of András Forgách and Annamária Radnai in 2015 and graduated in 2019. In the first years, he worked as a dramaturg mostly with Balázs Benő Fehér in different major theatres in Budapest and with Vilmos Vajdai in TÁP Színház. Nowadays, he works as a writer and a director of his own plays in the independent scene. He also works as an actor and performer. He has a collection of poems released in 2018 and a Youtube channel called Tajgetosz Show based on his experiences living with physical disability in Hungary. He is a fellow headmaster of the theatre dramaturgy class and teacher in the theatre-making class in the Freeszfe Society.

CONTACT

Fanni Szemerédi 
+36204589527
szemeredi.fanni@szkene.hu

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SUPPORTERS

The performance was realised with the co-financing of the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund - a small project financed within the framework of the Interreg V-A Slovakia Hungary Cooperation Program Small Project Fund.