Peterdi Nagy László (szerk.): A Nemzeti Színház 1945 - 1978 (Budapest, 1978)

Székely György: A Nemzeti Színházról

of these endeavours. The newly gained artistic devices could serve effectively the staging of dramas of very different type: the brilliant grotesque performance of Dürrenmatt’s Play Strindberg as well as the bewitching presentation of the 16th century Hungarian version of Electra.

Since 1972 in the first quarter of each year the National Theatre organizes Hungarian Drama Festival. In a few days’ period a sequence of classical and contemporary Hungarian dramas are presented to call the attention to the continuity of past and present. In the past few years ten old and ten hew Hungarian plays were produced on these occasions serving both cultural and educational purposes.

In the last three decades the National Theatre has steadily increased its foreign connections. They invited a lot of foreign companies (e.g. Moscow Art Theatre, and Berliner Ensemble) and in return they toured abroad fourteen times to offer information on the present state of Hungarian drama and theatre. They gave guest performances besides the capitals of the European socialist countries also in Palermo and Helsinki.

It is indisputable that the company has always strived for high artistic standards, has systematically helped the contemporary Hungarian plays on the stage, and has always worked for human progress. Changing time and the unwearying rivals make the artists of the National renew their activity and produce newer and newer values.

11