Jurányi Incubator House
In autumn 2016, Viktor BODÓ staged the Diary of a Madman from Gogol's “St. Petersburg Stories”, in the form of a monodrama. Tamás KERESZTES, who has previously worked with the director as the lead actor in the internationally acclaimed theatre show, Rattledanddisappeared, plays the main character here, a councillor, whose descent into insanity is played out by Keresztes right in front of our eyes. The second ‘protagonist’ of the show is the spiral, which – together with the unique, live music on stage – creates a special atmosphere. Are we mad? Or is the world insane? – the questions Gogol raised in the story he wrote in 1834 are still relevant today, in 2017.
CREDITS
Arksenty Ivanovich Poprishchin: Tamás KERESZTES
Dramaturge: Juli RÓBERT
Assistant: Zsuzsi SZAKÁCS
Set designer: Tamás KERESZTES
Lighting designer: Antal LOHÁR
Sound: Zoltán BELÉNYESI
Psychology expert: Dr. Zsolt ZALKA
Director: Viktor BODÓ
Producer: Tibor ORLAI
Special thanks to Nóra JUHÁSZ, Árpád KÁKONYI, József SZALAI, Dávid SZARVAS
REVIEWS
“As to what Gogol would think, watching this play today: he would presumably be quite astonished at the genius of Poprishchin’s madness.” index.hu
“It is baffling how Tamás Keresztes builds up this span of madness with such a sense of proportion that we come close to dying from empathy. I cannot remember ever having been so intensely impressed intellectually as well as physically by a theatrical performance.” József Kling, unikornis.hu
“Viktor Bodó’s reading of Gogol is a light railway gradually gathering speed. Tamás Keresztes cranks up the tempo continuously, and at the start of the performance there is no sign of the dangerous pace he will dictate by the end.” Gábor Csatádi, Pótszékfoglaló
“The performance is a verbal composition, a symphony of destruction, complete with sound, image and movement. It is stirring, it is savage, it is heart-breaking and even comical. It is the higher school of acting.” Dezső Kovács, Art7.hu
TOURS & FESTIVALS ABROAD
Interferences International Theatre Festival, Cluj-Napoca, RO, 2016
European Festival of Performing Atrts – Roumanian Drma Festival (FEST-FDR), Timisoara, RO, 2017
Internation Theatre Festival Varna Summer 2017, Varna, BG, 2017
World Theatre, Sofia, BG, 2017
International Festival THEATRE, Pilsen, Czech Republic, 2017
Bratislava Astorka Festival, SK, 2017
VIKTOR BODÓ
Viktor Bodó graduated as a stage director, then he joined Árpád Schilling’s Krétakör for three years as an actor. In 2009 he directed Rattledanddisappeared (based on Kafka’s The Trial) at Katona József Theatre, which was a huge international success. Between 2008 and 2015 he lead his own theatre company Szputnyik Shipping Company, with which he collaborated with various European theatres, such as Schauspiel Köln, Staatstheater Mainz/Theater Winterthur, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, the Katona József Theatre and the Vígszínház in Budapest.
Since 2015 he has been working as a freelance director, has been invited to direct for many different stages, Deutsches Schauspiel Hamburg, Schauspielhaus Zürich, Volkstheater Wien, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg in coproduction with Katona József Theatre.
In 2016 he was awarded the Europe Theatre Prize, his direction The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other earned the Golden Mask award in Moscow for Best Foregin Performance in 2010 and the Nestroy Theatre Prize in Austria in 2009.
ORLAI PRODUCTIONS
Orlai Productions is a Hungarian independent theatre (meaning that it is outside the traditional repertoire system), working without any government subsidy. Besides hugely successful runs of well-known plays, Orlai Productions have always taken a supportive interest in alternative theatre groups and performances, gaining further critical acclaim. At the moment the company has 27 productions playing nationally.
COPRODUCERS
The Katona József Theatre, MASZK Association (Szeged), FÜGE Production, Orlai Productions