Trafó House of Contemporary Arts
A bailiff arrives to evict a single woman from her Budapest flat, but an unexpected twist prevents him from carrying out his plan. Meanwhile, the pitiless fellow is forced to examine his own conscience, and it turns out that the derelict flat hides dark secrets, which the new tenants must face...
Do we choose our fates, or are our lives predestined? The characters live an imitation of life; a life of ingrained habit far removed from the political situation of the moment. The performance is made up of two duets, two side-notes from a margin of society, where injustice is the unwritten law.
Kornél Mundruczó's new production is both poetic and provocative and breaks new ground for Proton Theatre.
CREDITS
Mrs. Lőrinc Ruszó: Lili MONORI
Mihály Sudár: Roland RÁBA
Veronika Fenyvesi: Annamária LÁNG
Szilveszter Ruszó: Zsombor JÉGER
Jónás Harcos: Dáriusz KOZMA
Set: Márton ÁGH
Costumes: Márton ÁGH, Melinda DOMÁN
Written by: Kata WÉBER
Dramaturge: Soma BORONKAY
Music: Asher GOLDSCHMIDT
Assistant director: Anna FEHÉR
Director: Kornél MUNDRUCZÓ
Producer: Dóra BÜKI
Production manager: Zsófia CSATÓ
Technical director, light design: András ÉLTETŐ
Lights: Zoltán RIGÓ
Sound: Zoltán HALMEN, Dániel HIDVÉGI, János REMBECZKI
Stage master: Benedikt SCHRÖTER
Props: Tamás FEKETE
Dresser: Melinda DOMÁN
Stage hand: Zsolt ZSIGRI
REVIEWS
"Kornél Mundruczó’s hyper-realist masterpiece." mottingers-meinung.at, Austria
"Kornél Mundruczó, renowned Hungarian director of stage and film, surprises us with his performance entitled Imitation of life. Instead of the accustomed violence and provocation onstage, he offers quiet and intimate glimpses into the fates of individuals." Süddeutsche Zeitung, Germany
"The face as a battleground, the rented flat as a microscope, the stage as a magnifying glass – the theatrical art of Kornél Mundruczó, born in 1975, reflects our societal relations on a small scale, using sharp outlines. This makes Imitation of life a poetic and political event in one." Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany
"In a time when establishing one’s identity is increasingly important, Mundruczó has crafted a theatre production that address these questions: Are we able to sever our family roots? Can we deny our background? Is it possible to create an identity tailored to suit us? Imitation of life presents a young man’s desperate attempts as he strives for a better life." ORF.at, Austria
"The excellent set, designed by Márton Ágh, is convincing in every portion of the play. Its rotation, which gives rise to chaos and disorder, is a graphic metaphor for this restless and chaotic period, in which many of our lives are turned upside down, when firm points of reference are lost." european-cultural-news.com
"This is the theatre of objects, the play of life that moves one to tears." ruhrbarone.de, Germany
"Lili Monori and Roland Rába fight a live battle for the flat. They are a captivating duo. (…) It is hyper-realism verging on satire." Wiener Zeitung, Austria
"Kornél Mundruczó and Budapest’s Proton Theatre have succeeded in creating a political Zeitstück that is uncommonly dense and significant. After the lights go out, the audience sits in silence for minutes before rewarding the director, the spectacle and the actors with lengthy applause." opernnetz.de, Germany
TOURS & FESTIVALS ABROAD
Wiener Festwochen, Vienna, Austria, 2016.
Theater Oberhausen, Germany, 2016.
Wiesbaden Biennale, Germany, 2016.
HELLERAU - European Center for the Arts, Dresden, Germany, 2016.
HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, Germany, 2016.
NEXT Festival, Lille, France, 2016.
Platonov Arts Festival, Voronezh, Russia, 2017.
17th National Theatre Festival, Pécs, Hungary, 2017.
Festival Boulevard, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, 2017.
Zürcher Theater Spektakel, Switzerland, 2017.
Baltic House Festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2017.
Sirenos Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017.
Spring in Autumn, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 2017.
INTERNATIONAL AWARD
Kornél Mundruczó is nominated for Best Director, Faust-award, 2017
PROTON THEATRE
In 2009, Kornél Mundruczó, film and theatre director, and Dóra Büki, theatre producer, founded Proton Theatre, a virtual artistic company organized around the director’s independent productions. Besides preserving maximum artistic freedom, their goal is to ensure a professional structure for their independently produced theatre plays and projects. Chiefly, their performances are realized as international co-productions, and their frequent collaborators include the Wiener Festwochen, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, KunstenFestivalDesArts, Brussels, Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Budapest, and HELLERAU, Dresden. The ensemble currently has nine performances in its repertoire. Besides productions directed by the artistic director – namely, The Ice (2006); Frankenstein Project (2007); Hard to Be a God (2010); Disgrace (2012); Dementia (2013); Winterreise (2015); Imitation of Life (2016) – they wish to provide opportunities for the ideas of the company members to be implemented. In this spirit the following performances were created: Last, directed by Roland Rába (2014) and 1 Link, directed by Gergely Bánki (2015).
Since its foundation, performances of Proton Theatre have toured to more than 80 festivals, from Festival d’Avignon through Adelaide Festival to Singapore International Festival, Seoul Bo:m Festival or the Zürcher Theaterspektakel.
COPRODUCERS
Wiener Festwochen, Vienna, Austria; Theater Oberhausen, Germany; La Rose des Vents, Lille, France; Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg / Scène européenne, France; Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Budapest, Hungary; HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, Germany; HELLERAU - European Center for the Arts, Dresden, Germany; Wiesbaden Biennale, Germany
SUPPORTERS
KUBIK COWORKING, KRYOLAN CITY, OPEN CASTING, PP CENTER, VISION TEAM