Documentary sound performance 
In Hungarian and in English with English subtitles
12+
90' work-in-progress presentation + 30' aftertalk

Lunchtime with Grandma is the second chapter of Living the Dream with Grandma, presented at the previous dunaPart. In the midst of the Covid pandemic and his own crisis of self-awareness, 35-year-old László Göndör moved in with his 97-year-old Holocaust survivor grandmother, Éva Katona. The first part comprised their conversations from then, a unique duet about their final time together. The radical minimalism of the second part is no less painful and poetic while leaving no less room for laughter, while it can also be understood as a counterpoint to the first part. We listen to the entire audio recording of the lunch the grandmother and grandson shared on 22 December 2020, fragments of which were used in the first part, the title now also evoking the first Hungarian happening. Éva Katona is once again present only in her voice, but now Göndör himself also takes a step back. The Shoah, however, comes to the fore: this time, Éva Katona tells her grandson and the audience about this period and her unique philosophy of life in an immersive soundscape composed by Márk Bartha. The backdrop is the view from the Budapest flat; vehicles come and go, the sun slowly sets. With its disconcerting intimacy, Lunchtime with Grandma speaks as intensely as the first chapter about the close and heartrending relationship of two people. (Noémi Herczog, curator)

After touring internationally with Living the Dream with Grandma, László Göndör is now creating a new performance centred on his need to share his Grandmother’s moral and political legacy in the face of global neofascist resurgence.
The work-in-progress presentation of Lunchtime with Grandma is an act of sharing an intimate, uncut recorded discussion László and his grandmother, Eva Katona had in Eva’s kitchen in Budapest on 22 December 2020, around lunchtime.
The performance invites the audience to spend this lunchtime with the recorded sound and video material and a live orchestra, entering a conversation that moves between the everyday and the existential, from the banality of lunch to questions of survival, evil, and what it means to remain human.
Lunchtime with Grandma asks how Eva’s personal stories of survival can speak to us today, at a time when social and political circumstances increasingly encourage us to survive at the expense of others. How might Eva’s stories help us, in our own precarious times, turn towards and preserve our inner emotional lives - and our shared humanity?

The work-in-progress presentation at dunaPart Platform is an important stage of the research process. It invites international professionals to engage in dialogue about the (inter)cultural accessibility and translational challenges of Eva’s legacy and contribute to the artistic process with their valuable insights.

Credits

Performers: Éva KATONA (sound), László GÖNDÖR
Musicians (cello): Ramóna RÁDLI, Gyöngyi BARTA, Ádám BAQAIS, Lilla Michaela BOS

Director: László GÖNDÖR
Co-director: Kornél LABODA
Dramaturge: Gábor THURY, Kornél LABODA
Composer, sound-designer: Márk BARTHA
Consultant: Lili Olga HORVÁTH, Zsófia BÓDI

Set-designer: Botond DEVICH
Light-designer: Ádám LANGÓ
Cinematographer: Mátyás GYURICZA
Editor: Alexandra LÁNG

Production assistants: Zsuzsanna BALOGH-LAJKÓ, Zsuzsi SZAKÁCS
Creative producer: Andrea AUSZTRICS
Producer: Dániel MAYER

Supported by: The production is to be realized within the framework of the Staféta program announced by the Municipality of Budapest.
Co-production partner: Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Marom Budapest – Jewish Culture 2028, STEREO AKT, SzínMűHely Foundation

Tours, Festivals

(with Living the Dream with Grandma)

Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Frankfurt, 2024.
Akademie der Künste, Berlin, 2024.
Paris Globe Festival / Théâtre Paris-Villette, Paris, 2024.
HELLERAU, Dresden, Germany, 2024.
4+4 Days in Motion / Archa Theatre, Prague, 2023.
Divadelná Nitra Festival, Nitra, 2022.
Hungary Live Festival / Here Arts Center, New York City, 2022.

Bio

László GÖNDÖR is a performer and theatre-maker based in Budapest and Amsterdam. With a curiosity for comic discomfort, he creates solo theatrical works that combine alternative humour with vulnerability, self-reflexivity and poignant beauty.
His work has been presented internationally at Mousonturm, Hellerau, Akademie der Künste (Germany), Steirischer Herbst Festival (Austria), Théâtre de La Concorde (France), Here Arts Centre (USA), among others.
He is currently completing his Master’s degree in International Dramaturgy at the University of Amsterdam.

Contact

László GÖNDÖR
lacigondor.pdx@gmail.com
instagram.com/lacigondor/
magnumproduction.hu/en/team/laszlo-gondor/