Peterdi Nagy László (szerk.): A Nemzeti Színház 1945 - 1978 (Budapest, 1978)
Székely György: A Nemzeti Színházról
National Theatre — that has become the theatre of the nation by its ideals and aims — is getting on for 150 years. Since 1837 cultivation of Hungarian language, promotion of national development, protection of the ethical basis, estimation of literary values and claim for high artistic standard have constituted the task and practice of the theatre, although these purposes could not always be accomplished. This album contains photos and some characteristic stage- and costume-designs of performances presented by the National after 1945. The pictures are put in chronological order and reflect the changing trends in the interpretation and style of Hungarian theatre during this thirty years’ period. When in 1945, in the year of Hungary’s Liberation, the task of theatre was remodified, it was declared that it should be an democratic art in every respect. The most decisive turn could be seen in the auditorium where the workers of Budapest factories — the have-nots till then — appeared: theatre ceased to be the entertainment of the privileged classes but opened up to the widest strata of the society. The National began to perform dramas by Tibor Déry, Lajos Kassák etc. that had not been allowed on the stage in the 1930s. They presented Áron Tamási’s, Gyula Illyés’s, Pál Szabó’s and Ernő Urbán’s new plays as well. The Hungarian classics as József Katona’s Bánk bán (1815), Mihály Vörösmarty’s Csongor and Tünde (1831), and Imre Madách’s The Tragedy of Man (1861) were re-analysed and got new interpretations. Russian classics and Soviet dramas missing for long were also put on stage at last. The popularity of Shakespeare and Molière not only 10 remained unchanged but the series of hundreds of performances showed that they became more successful than ever. The new audience and the new program required new acting style. The actors of the National Theatre took the initiative in studying and using Stanislavsky’s method of theatrical realism. In 1952 a harrowing Uncle Vanya and an excellent production of Torchflame, a new historical play by Gyula Illyés, showed the first good results of their efforts. Meanwhile the National started to have rivals. The establishment or rather re-establishment of two great straight theatres (Vígszínház and Madách Theatre) stimulated the artists of the National to make further efforts. They fought against the artistic schematism of the period by producing contemporary Hungarian plays such as Ernő Urbán’s satires The Upstart and The Combat, Endre Vészi’s social picture The Secretary, and Ferenc Karinthy’s A Thousand Years, an authentic documentary drama revealing the profound tragedy of the present. In the result of ideological clearing up and consolidation after the suppression of the counter-revolution of 1956 the company’s repertoire widened: besides the presentation of new Hungarian plays (e.g. József Darvas’s Smoky Sky, Lajos Mesterházi’s Message, Imre Dobozy’s We Are Going On Tomorrow) this meant also the revival of Greek classics after a long pause and the latish introduction of Bertolt Brecht’s works. On the other hand there were steady efforts made at creating modern acting style adequate to the more variegated program; thus the National undertook the tasks of an experimental theatre in addition to its original tradition-guarding function. An exciting Marat /Sade production and a not less interesting Timon of Athens revival proved the success
