Molnár Klára et al. (szerk.): Színházi Évkönyv 2008/2009-es színi évadra (Budapest, 2010)
Bevezető
L FOREWORD The structure of the Yearbook did not change considerably. First we listed the contact data of theatres, receiving venues and theatre companies: the official data is followed by the capacity of the auditorium, the characteristic prices of the season and finally the ID numbers of the new performances and of the ones kept on schedule. In case of the premieres we also mentioned the number of performances in the season, while next to repertory shows you find the number of performances presented this season compared to the total number of shows. The data is being collected from various sources and in most cases the theatres themselves double-check the accuracy of the information. The occasional lack of data about the number of performances, auditorium capacity or ticket price is due to the fact that not all theatres find it equally important to publish these figures. When accounts are ambiguous or deficient we found it better to omit the given data. The premieres of the season are listed in an alphabetical order. Summer shows, which often cannot be labelled as open-air performances in the traditional sense, are listed among the others. There is also no special chapter for the productions of minority theatres within Hungary and Hungarian minority theatres abroad. Giving a clear-cut genre specification to a given performance is an increasingly difficult task, however, opera, children's and dance theatre performances, specifically due to their considerable difference in genre, are still featured in different lists. The third part of the Yearbook focuses on the most important events of the season, followed by a theatre bibliography The latter lists the books on theatre and plays published during 2008. There are several indexes at the end of the book to help your orientation. Next to the name of a given artist in regular print you will find the ID number referring to the performance catalogue record, while in italics the other page numbers where the artist’s name is to be found. The title index refers to the Hungarian and original titles by listing the page number. * With the Yearbook and the szinhaziadattar.hu internet database two different worlds step on stage. Yet the one thing that the two approaches have in common is that they reflect the same universe. Standing on the boundary between the two worlds one can clearly see that, even if their function is similar, the data accumulated in the books will sooner or later be absorbed by the digital databases. Our colleagues, too, are busy filling up computer memories with the facts of Hungarian theatre before 1949. The databases keep growing steadily, yet the continuity of Hungarian theatre (the renewing or dissolution of theatre workshops, the changes of theatre’s societal presence) can only come to life with the active participation of the interested users. When someone sits in front of a computer and types in the search box the name of an actor or a theatre... The Editors 10
