Kovács Tivadar szerk.: Theatrum — Színháztudományi értesítő 1965

Idegen nyelvű ismertetések

transformation that takes place in the consciousness of the people. Naturally this is primarily true of the realistic drama. But the notion of realism must not by any means be restricted. „According to our concept the essence of realism lies in the recreation of the laws of reality in another, artistic system" - said Mr. Hont. The art of the theatre is nearer to reality- and thus to realism also - than any other art. This is natural, since it represents the world in three dimensions, as it exists in reality. Other art forms are much more abstract, and according to their nature more stylized. Finally Dr. Hont pointed out that the aeshtetic examination of the theatre may potentially promote the solution of aesthetic problems outside the theatre. Miklós Almási, researcher of the Institute for Theatrical Sciences gave a lecture on the Socialist Drama and Modernit

y. He tried to define the ideal style and form of the socialist drama. He questioned the widely held view that socialist dramas in their form should follow traditional, classical aesthetical rules. In Almási's opinion this false concept is the source of several mistakes, and breeds contradictions: empty formalism in the drama on the one hand, and the prevalence of ideas on the other, without an appropriate medium of form. Similarly, in the theatre it results in the rediscovery of oldfashioned, naive formal experiments

,the employment of dusty gags both in scene design and acting on the contemporary stage, and a policy of staging plays with an exclusively socialist ideology. The present crudeness of the socialist aesthetical ideal is to account for the fact that the notion of modernity is misinterpreted both in the field of playwriting and theatre arts. It is not reckoned with that the modern, external forms of expression can only generate interest in the playgoers if beyond their formal interest their con- 64 -