Kerényi Ferenc szerk.: Színháztudományi Szemle 28. (Budapest, 1991)

IDEGEN NYELVŰ ÖSSZEFOGLALÓK

György Székely: Facts and Memories about the Production of Imre Madách's The Tragedy of Man at the National Theatre in 1942. The Tragedy of Man has been performed over a thousand times since its first production and is therefore the greatest success in Hungarian theatre while producing it involves the greatest number of problems. Every production has to find the right balance between spectacle and philosophy. Dr. Antal Németh, who managed the National Theatre in 1942, prepared the eighth production plan. He asked Zoltán Fábri to design the scenery and the two of them worked out a so-called "middle-version". This means that as the play consists of fifteen scenes that require different scenery these had to be easily movable, the kind that is often used in smaller, country theatres. The system adopted is called the "hanging" system which has both vertical and horizontal elements that are suggestive of both this vale of tears and transcendence. The production opened on 15 August 1942 but rolled up after a few performances due to tragic historical events. This approach to the play, so different from those employed before was put into practice once more in the Pécs National Theatre in January 1943. István Fried: Sándor Márai's The Citizens of Kassa Sándor Márai (1900-1989) was a novelist, publicist and dramatist who wrote his play The Citizens of Kassa in 1941. The plot takes place in the early 14th century. The story is reminiscent of the story of the citizens of Calais, the pride and steadfastness of the citizens of the town are described in a dramatic situation. Written in 1941 it is an apology for humanism, for the responsibility of the artist and the righteousness of resistance to brutal force: there is no human life without justice and truth and there may be no justice without an underlying spirit Only reason can stand indomitable against the cruel folly of totalitarianism. The style is remarkable: it is noble without being archaic and there is both lyricism and rhetorics to provide an authentic background to a chain of private and public events. The play was produced at the Hungarian National Theatre and was successful. It was quickly translated into German, Heinrich George was planning to produce it in Berlin but the Second World War prevented him from realizing his enterprise.