Ujváry Zoltán: Kultusz, színjáték, hiedelem (Miskolc, 2007)

Játék és maszk. Dramatikus népszokások IV.

When surveying the genres and scene-types of folk acting, fairs (making lots of people move and attracting most diverse entertainers to the spot) are worth special attending. We do have historical data explaining the fact that entertainment at fairs must have been one of the most important chances for Peasantry to give themselves somé leisure-time. Entertainers wandering around the country and the fact of their often having gotten to distant countries (not to mention those who had actually arrived from there) influenced the folk plays of recent centuries to a great extent. (Especially those who had „real plays" in their répertoire) At the same time, all these presented scenes relied on the tradition of folk acting, too. Groups of this kind tried to adapt their „répertoire" to actual, local demands which, however, were bound to change time-wise and regionwise. Cultural phenomena of this sort, thus, did not always pro ve to have been the result of inter-ethnic relations. The striking similarity of the entertaining modes of European peoples is probably due to the activity of wandering entertainers and to fair-masquers. The latter seem to have been important mediators of European cultural phenomena of our age, as well, whose heritage is mixed: consisting of centuries' long mixtures, intertwinings and, often, taking national colors upon themselves. The Fair itself deserves our attention not only because of its having been a transmitter of dramatic traditions, too, but also because it seems to have appeared as a peculiar scene for folk acting. Although we can also find somewhat similar attitudes in animal masques of different locale, doggerels of various sorts can be heard at the fair, and no less frequendy, concerning merchants, exchange of goods and so on, and so forth... In other contexts we have already referred to the fact that it is impossible to investigate the structure of folk acting and dramatic folk customs with the help of viewpoints applied to drama as a literary genre and to plays performed in theaters. With folk acting there is no theater building, no scenery - or, if any, very casual - and the props are not of determining importance, either. The spectators are often players as well, or, at least, participants in the play. It is generally characteristic of folk acting that it is strongly tied to its environment. Independent of „literary dramaturgy" as folk acting is, it still has one identical feature: the dramaturgy of folk dramatic customs and masques starts off from the moment when the play and its spectators meet and is finished when they part. If we interpret this phenomenon as the realizational process of particular plays within the sphere of folk acting, the characteristic features, particularities and behavioral forms of preparation, organization, choice of the players [casting], the scene, the props and the audience can be well-separated. Even the performance of a most simple scene is preceded by some sort of preparation. In its first phase casting is of utmost importance. Dramaturgically speaking, it is also essential that the players should keep the main development of the play as well as adapt themselves to any improvizational demands of the locale. This purpose is achieved by organization that — with some special plays — develops into conscious directing (staging). The main principle, of course, is that of success, which is to say: the function of entertainment must be achieved. Dramatic customs making several persons move about, especially require the presence of an Organizer [someone who makes the play work]. In the history of the custom this leads to an appreciation of the role of the individual. At the same time, the players and spectators of the same dramatic customs can often hardly be distinguished from one-another. It also frequently happens that the spectator becomes - for a short or long time — the participant in the play. Beside the actors and the spectators, the actual scene and props (especially: masks) may have significance in the dramaturgy of folk acting. Certain dramatic habits and folk plays have a characteristic starting formula, whose function co-incides with that of the prologues oi Classical plays whereby, similarly to folk plays, the spectator gets some basic information concerning the play to be performed. The prologue is often accompanied by a humble request, whose aim — aport from the role of exposition - is to gain an authorization for the play. In some cases - chiefly in the course of wedding-plays - the prologue does have an entertaining function, too; thus it actually becomes an independent play. While investigating Hungarian folk plays and dramatic customs, questions concerning inter-ethnic relations regularly occur and — in case of particular play-types - get into the center of attention. When seeking for answers („to and from") and considering the Hungarian and international material, it has become evident that this series of problems demand different ways of approach with each type of scenes and masques. The manifold and complex contacts due to more than a millennial co-existence of the peoples of the Carpathian Basin have led to numerous parallels, similarities and identicalities, which can commonly be seen in the dramatic plays. Several things must be taken into consideration (as in the course of our preliminary investigation), such as: history of settling, various forms of ethnic procedures, migration, colonization, assimilation, differences of language and religion and also those of social development. While researching Hungarian folk customs and beliefs, a longtime emphasis has been directed to comparative studies. The main aims seem to have been to establish as many international parallels as possible, with a special view to also establishing the origins of the tradition [thus: the ways of „to and from"-s, too]. One cannot, however, disregard