Against literally no odds, I have survived this savage affliction of the throat. Finally I can resume the vitally important work that I am entirely, sometimes, committed to and bring you, the readers of A Younger Theatre, more from the world of Eastern European theatre.

I had a plan, oh yes, I had a grand plan, the likes of which has never been seen on my blog section. But alas, the best laid plans of mice and Ruperts often go awry. So I have recently returned from Debrecen, the second biggest city in Hungary, and while there I had planned to watch some theatre at the Csokonai Színház (Csokonai Theatre, Csokonai being a famous Hungarian poet, look him up!) as there were some very interesting classical and new Hungarian productions on. As (I have found thus far) it has been the trend with Eastern European drama, the theatre has a repertory company of performers, artistic producers and other creatives that are attached to it. This, as I have mentioned briefly before, has its pros and cons. It means a permanent job and a much closer company for all the creatives involved, but could also lead to a lack of hunger and diversity behind the productions as everything is too secure, a problem very few creatives suffer in the United Kingdom!

As it turns out, theatre is pretty darn popular in Debrecen and I couldn’t get a ticket for love or Forints to either the Hungarian production of Romeo and Juliet (I’m not going to translate that, you can probably imagine why) or Magda Szabó’s ‘Az ajtó’ (The Door). I was particularly devastated that I didn’t get to see Az Ajtó, as Magda Szabo was a highly influential and revered author and dramatist, with a fascinating history linked to the city of Debrecen and the struggle against the Stalinist oppressors.

Thankfully I was not entirely out of luck. At the MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts in the heart of the city, there was an exhibition on the photography of Eva Keleti, a Hungarian photographer who specialised in capturing the lives of performers in communist Hungary, both on and off the stage. I am sadly no expert on photography (can’t have it all eh?) but I will say they were quite moving on many different levels. It appears that Eva had a fantastic grasp of movement within the stillness of her photos, both of Hungarian and Russian performances, that played in the various national theatres of communist Hungary. Having lived in Budapest and known many Hungarians over the last few years, I have learnt a few things about what existence was like behind the Iron Curtain. During the worst parts before and around the revolution of 1956 (which sadly failed, resulting in a tighter grip of stalinist terror over the Hungarian people) there were countless state murders, censorship and oppression on every aspect of life. Magda Szabo’s work was banned throughout this time, and a Baumgarten award, which was one of the most prestigious awards in 20th century Hungary, was taken from her the very day that she received it for political reasons. With this in mind, what I found astounding about Eva’s photographs was their sense of clear normality. The performance pictures were beautifully striking and captured moments of intense drama through movement. While the ‘actors at home’ photos captured beautifully personal and human moments. From young theatre students, smoking by the Budapest riverside, with hope gleaming in their eyes, to the collection of photos taken at the home of Rutkai and Latinovics, a famous acting couple who appear desperately in love over the week’s time Eva was photographing them.

Hungary has its fair share of famous and influential photographers and their work is well worth a look. I would suggest checking out the works of the war photographer Robert Capa as a good place to start.

I am heading back to Debrecen in August and hopefully I will be able to catch some theatre while I’m there, but until then I have other trips coming up around the Balkans and work to do in London so watch this space!

Image credit: Istvan on Flickr.