Kerényi Ferenc szerk.: Színháztudományi Szemle 27. (Budapest, 1990)

IDEGEN NYELVŰ ÖSSZEFOGLALÓK

ÁGNES SZILÁGYI: THE SOURCES OF FERENC MOLNÁR'S DRAMATURGY, AS REFLECTED IN TWO OF HIS COMEDY-TRANSLATIONS Ferenc Molnár, known world-wide as an excellent playwright, is presented in this essay as a translator. In the first decade of our century he was commissioned to render more than twenty comedies and vaudevilles by contemporary French authors into Hungarian for the Vígszínház (Comedy Theatre), so that these plays could be staged immediately. The aim of this essay is to prove that the translations served as 'finger-exercises' for Molnár, adding considerably to the development and conscious polishing of the characteristic stage diction and specific dramaturgy of his original plays. Therefore, the author focuses her attention on the formal structure of the plays. With comparative analysis, she contrasts the original French text, the first Hungarian version, and the director's copy, which reflects the actual realization of the plays. Two comedies were examined with this method: The Donkey of Buridan (Vane de Buridan) and Daddy (Papa) by Robert de Hers and Gaston Armand de Caillavet. The analyses show that Molnár treated the original texts entrusted to him as adaptable material and modified them with a sure touch on the points which he deemed important dramaturgically. It was a twofold endeavour: first, he wanted to make the dramatic material more effective and powerful. His other purpose went beyond merely transforming the material: he was guided by the special line, the program policy and stylistic demands of the Comedy Theatre, taking into account even the particular circumstances (the director, the actors' talent, etc.). The director's copies supply us with splendid evidence of the fact that Molnár, together with the director, was also actively guiding the creation of a performance. The dramatic text was modified according to Molnár's notes and directions even during the course of the rehearsals. Finally, the essay surveys the press reaction to the premières; this assists the reader in assessing which efforts of the translator's were justified and which were not. ISTVÁN FRIED: THE ADVENTURE BY SÁNDOR MÁRAI The Adventure, a play by Sándor Márai (1900—1989) was staged at the Nemzeti Színház Kamaraszínháza (the National Theatre's Chamber Playhouse) on 16 December 1940, with an excellent cast. Márai's prose works, rendered into several languages, had already met with success by that time not only in Hungary but in Czechoslovakia, France, Germany and Switzerland too; his plays also attracted great attention. In the theatrical season of 1941 the series of international productions