Don Quixote

Cervantes - Verebes Ernő

National Theatre, Budapest, Hungary

Director: Attila Vidnyánszky

Hungarian with English subtitle

3 hours with 1 breaks.

To reinterpret and put on stage a work of literature every word of which is permeated with the spirit of rebellion and freedom may make one feel as if one were gazing down into the bottomless well of interpretation. Perhaps Don Quixote himself struggled with similar doubts when he found himself forced to alloy his truths with the more credible truths of Sancho Panza. But there is another perspective which, in this case, offers the member of the audience the real chance for adventure. Namely, we are invited to brood, alongside Cervantes (who appears in the production as a writer) and Attila Vidnyánszky (the director who has created this stage version of Don Quixote’s world), over different opportunities, over seductive but misleading explanations, while enchanted giants and demons manufactured anew dance on our heads – or in our heads. To endure them, this would be true heroism, or to prevail on them to climb down once and for all? Don Quixote deals with both possibilities with remarkable mastery, for he is a hero, but primarily he is a lovable, pure being who will continue to thrive as long as his stories are read.

Színészek/Actors: Reviczky Gábor, Bodrogi Gyula, Trill Zsolt, Kristán Attila, Udvaros Dorottya, Horváth Lajos Ottó, Tompos Kátya, Rácz József, Bakos-Kiss Gábor, Szarvas József, Tóth László, Nagy Mari

Színészhallgatók/Actors students: Benedek Dániel, Dér Mária, Dunai Csenge, Helvaci Ersan Dávid, Herczegh Péter, Horváth Julianna, Kónya Renáta, Mészáros Martin, Nagy Balázs, Nagy Márk, Szabó Nikolett, Szép Domán, Ticz András, Varga Bori

Díszlettervező/Set designer: Olekszandr Bilozub/Oleksandr Bilozub; Jelmeztervező/Costume designer: Bánki Róza; Choreographer/Koreográfus: Uray Péter; Dramaturg/Dramaturge: Verebes Ernő; Ügyelő/ Stage mistress: Lencsés István, Dobos Gábor; Súgó/Prompter: Gróf Kati; Rendezőasszisztens/Assistant director: Herpai Rita

Director: Attila Vidnyanszky

Gábor Reviczky

Main Stage

Attila Vidnyánszky

Hungarian theatre and opera director, teacher.

He was born in Berehove (Ukraine) in 1964.

He graduated in Hungarian literature and linguistics from Uzhhorod State University (1985). He taught literature and history for two years. In 1992, he graduated in theatre directing from the Karpenko-Kary State Academy of Theatre and Cinema in Kyiv.

In 1993, he founded his own company, the Gyula Illyés Hungarian National Theatre in Berehove, of which he is still the Principal Director.

In 2004, he was appointed Principal Director of the Hungarian State Opera House. In 2006 - 2013, he was Director of the Csokonai National Theatre in Debrecen.

Since 2013, he has been the Director General of the National Theatre. In 2014, he founded the National Theatre's MITEM festival (Madách International Theatre Meeting).

Since 2023, he has been a member of the International Theatre Olympics Committee and Artistic Director of the 2023 Budapest Theatre Olympics.

He has also directed at the National Academic Theatre in Kyiv (Leszya Ukrayinka Theatre), the Alexandrinsky Theatre in St Petersburg) and the Hungarian State Opera House.

His performances have toured Europe from Stockholm to Moscow and Tbilisi, from Strasbourg to Nancy and Kyiv.

He has received many awards, including Ukraine's Artist of Merit (2002), the Meyerhold Prize (2009, Moscow) and the Kossuth Prize (2011).

His films include Liberté 56, The Boy Who Turned into a Deer.

He has taught acting at the Karpenko-Kary State Academy of Theatre and Cinema in Kyiv and at the University of Kaposvár. Since 2020, he has been the master of a directing class at the University of Theatre and Film in Budapest.

He has been a member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts since 2005. In 2008, he co-founded the Hungarian Theatre Society and has been its President since. Between 2010 and 2013, he also served as Chairman of the Theatre Arts Committee under the Minister of Human Resources. Since 2020, he has been Chairman of the Board of the foundation operating the University of Theatre and Film in Budapest.

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