Bereczky Erzsébet (szerk.): Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man. Essays about the ideas and the directing of the Drama (Budapest, 1985)
László Vámos: Open-air Performances of The Tragedy of Man
LÁSZLÓ VÁMOS OPEN-AIR PERFORMANCES OF THE TRAGEDY OF MAN There has been a new renaissance of open-air performances throughout the world. Modem man has revived the great community function of antiquity: the theatre which is more than a stage performance — it is also a ritual and a mass feast. In this kind of a theatrical experience the atmosphere created by the environment is of very great dramaturgical significance, and also important is the cohesion of watching and listening together which binds an audience of several thousand people into a community. Although the environment itself can cast a spell if a suitable play has been chosen, the mystery of contact, affinity with the audience will not happen if the play is alien to this broader setting. This production in 1965 is not intended as a modem stage effort in general; the aim of the direction has been to create the special Cathedral Square (Dóm tér), Szeged version of the Tragedy, with full consideration being given to the proportions of the monumental church and the visual and acoustic features of the grand stands which seat an audience of seven-thousand people. We have made no bones about wanting a spectacular production, despite the unsavory associations the term seems to arouse in some, for we believe that the visual appeal of a spectacle will offer a context to the ideological contents of the work and may enhance its message. The members of the audience have to leave this big open-air theatrical event with well-defined visual images deeply traced in their memory. The director has taken Madách’s gigantic visions seriously and has tried to carry out his instructions — although the author did not permit himself to be constrained by the possibility that the play would be eventually staged. Let me illustrate with some examples what we had in mind in regard to the individual scenes: In Heaven the Lord is symbolized by a huge spherical mirror in the centre between the two main steeples, in a height of about 57
