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
Adam was played by Oszkár Beregi as a guest performer. Beregi was at that time a member of the company of Reinhardt, a pioneer in modem theatrical endeavors. The next opportunity for a final break with the traditions of the Meiningen school presented itself in 1923, when Hevesi was the manager of the National Theatre. „The Tragedy of Man is not an exhibition of historical portraits, not a series of spectacular pictures or a documentary description of historical ages. It is much more, much greater and much more poetic than all these. It is Man’s eternal struggle seen through Adam’s dreams in ever-changing visions... Accordingly, the new Tragedy of Man consists not of a series of mirrors reflecting various ages. No, the theatrical framework and the individual scenes derive from Adam’s soul, his dreams and his visions.” — declared Hevesi on the eve of the premiere. In his attempt to accomplish this on the stage, Hevesi introduced many new elements. He found an excellent co-worker in the person of stage-designer Gusztáv Oláh. Oláh’s set contained a stylized leafy bough which spanned the two sides of the scene, reminding the audience that it was witnessing Adam’s dream from which he awoke at the end of each scene. All the various historical scenes were characterized by strong, unmistakable colour-symbolics as well as by well-defined preferences to the history of art: to Fra Angelico, to Albrecht Dürer and to Hungarian Mihály Zichy. Hevesi stressed the unity of the entire performance by having the masses move in the same manner. In this way, the masses became the fourth leading role in the play. Finally, the system of parallel casting was also introduced and a new practice was continued: the most important parts were played by the leading actors of the theatre, irrespective of their ages. (Lucifer was still played by the same actor as in the premiere: by László Gyenes.) Already in 1923 Sándor Hevesi stressed the importance of the biblical framework, the Lord’s and Lucifer’s struggle for Man. This led to his interpretation of the Tragedy as first and foremost a mystery play. This conception is bound to some extent to two characteristic features of the given historical period. First, in the early twenties, Christianity was adopted as the state ideology in Hungary, which increased the number of religious interpretations of the Tragedy as well. The other motivation came from the theatrical 26
