E. Csorba Csilla - Sipőcz Mariann: Arany János és a fényképezés. Országh Antal fotográfus /1821-1878/ pályaképe (Budapest, 2019)
Sipőcz Mariann: Országh Antal és a Nemzeti Színház
Summary Sipőcz Mariann Antal Országh and the National Theatre When in January 1863 Antal Országh opened his photographic studio at 3 Kerepesi Road opposite the National Theatre he already had many connections with the playhouse. The limited sources indicate that he possibly got into contact with the theatre before his emigration. In the 1850s an increasing number of French contemporary plays were performed in Pest’s Hungarian theatre and viewers purchased tickets for novel shows with pleasure. This demand on the part of audiences coincided with Országh’s attraction to the theatre and his ambition to translate. After all, he lived in Paris and was fluent in French. In 1853 the National Theatre staged eight of his translations of plays in five months. He corresponded with the theatre’s secretary, Ede Szigligeti, and at the end of 1859 a leading artist of the theatre company, Gábor Egressy, commissioned him to write articles about theatrical life in Paris for his newly launched paper on the theatre. He had amicable ties with an outstanding member of the company, Miklós Udvarhelyi. Due to their shared birthplace, Országh developed a close friendship with Kornélia Prielle. Nearly all the members of the company visited his photographic studio. He turned his hand to writing plays, but those works were not staged at the National Theatre. In her writing Mariann Sipőcz introduces the first decades of the National Theatre - the transformation of its repertoire policy, its company, its audiences and its building up to the 1860s, the time when Országh returned from emigration. She also presents the still existing documents which illustrate the connection between the photographer and the theatre. 101
