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
scenery and directing made themselves felt, which deviated radically from the principles of Meiningenism. Gordon Craig and Max Reinhardt, for example, switched from naturalistic to symbolic or stylized representation on the stage. Scenery designs developed in the direction of abstracted, mere symbolic indications, with strong architectural features, making deliberate use of the elements of asymmetry and disharmony as well. According to our present knowledge, the first to tear himself away from the rigid traditions of historical authenticity was Jaroslav Kvapil, who directed the Tragedy in 1909 in Prague. Armed with his experience gained in directing Shakespeare, Kvapil placed Madách’s work in a symbolic conceptual sphere in the spirit of the new theatrical trends. In Hungary it was Sándor Hevesi, the first, great representative of modern trends in play-directing, who approached Madách and the theatre not with an actor’s experience but with modem theoretical knowledge. He was only 24 years old when he critisized the „pictoral” interpretation of the Meiningenschool. In 1900, (at the age of 27), he analyzed in a lengthy article the way in which, up to that date directors had concieved the staging of the Tragedy. Hevesi acknowledged Paulay s pioneer efforts and stressed that the Tragedy could be and should be staged. He considered the greatest deficiency of Meiningenism to be the fact that all the scenes in the Tragedy were equally spectacular and offered, because of this no contrast between the biblical framework and Adam’s historical dream. It is the irony of fate that when in 1908, at the age of 35, Hevesi first received the opportunity to direct the Tragedy, he also inherited the scenery financed by Esterházy more than fifteen years earlier. This scenery adhered closely to Paulay’s interpretation and limited Hevesi in the realization of his own conceptions. Nevertheless, his interpretation did enrich the stage history of the Tragedy, primarily in the area of acting. In his interpretation, Lucifer, the former „raisonneur”, commentator and explainer of events, became the motivator of the plot. Another innovation was the detailed portrayal of the crowd scenes, which revealed a new element in Madách’s conceptual world: the relationship between the individual and the masses, a new source of tragedy. The role of 25
