Bereczky Erzsébet (szerk.): Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man. Essays about the ideas and the directing of the Drama (Budapest, 1985)
dr. Ferenc Kerényi: A Dramatic Poem from Hungary to the Theaters of the World
In adapting The Tragedy of Man to the stage, Paulay became the author of a new, supreme creation. This, by the way, was acknowledged even by Madách’s son and legal successor. Paulay even revealed his plans to the press and gave a reading of the script at a meeting of a Budapest literary society prior to the long-awaited premiere, another first in the history of the Hungarian theatre. As to the casting, Paulay assigned the roles following the traditional practice. Adam was played by Imre Nagy, the 34-yearold leading hero of the National Theatre who later also played Faust. Eve was played by the then 33-year-old Mari Jászai — the greatest tragedienne of the National Theatre — and of the whole Hungarian theatre. Lucifer’s role was entrusted to an up-and-coming „villain”, the then 26-year-old László Gyenes, who played this role for 41 years until his death. These early actors were confronted with the same difficulties which have never ceased to be a challenge for all the main characters in the play: how to safeguard the unity of the role while adopting new features as demanded by the everchanging scenes of history. The staging of The Tragedy of Man in the „Meiningen style” proved that this dramatic poem could indeed be performed on the stage. Yet, the consistent application of the principles of historical authenticity was at times contradicted by the text itself. For instance, Lucifer appeared before the first couple on Earth as a black- and red-clad devil straight from a fairy tale, wearing bat’s wings and a feather-cap. In contrast, Adam exclaimed seeing him: You seem the image of ourselves, like men. In the Phalanstery scene in which Madách had envisioned that all members of society had been robbed of their personalities and reduced to mere numbers, Plato’s Greek tunic and Luther’s minister’s habit distinguish them from the others. Eve’s costumes were chosen by Mari Jászai herself. She had two well-known painters design eleven dresses according to her own suggestions and all these costumes remained in her possession. In the Paradise scene, for instance, she wore a sleeveless, close-fitting knitted white shift and a long blond wig. Expelled from Paradise, she was later clad in 22
