11. Madách International Theatre Meeting

A conversation with Ivan Vyrypaev and Viktor Ryzhakov

In the course of his career, which now is stretching into a period of more than four decades, Helmut Stürmer, the stage designer for the production of Faust, has done the stage design and costume design for some 200 theatre production, as well as innumerable opera productions and feature films. He has worked together closely with world-famous directors and writers, including Liviu Ciulei, Lucian Pintilie, Silviu Purcărete, Gábor Tompa, and Vlad Mugur.

It was a long while before when I last felt as deliberated, elevated and (let me say) “happy” as during the last year festival in Kisvárda. I enjoyed the productions staged by Hungarian theatres outside Hungary, and I was impressed that any drama workshop seemed to be consistent to their special approaches. Self-identification is the term that I would describe them with after the professional discussions which proved to be great opportunities to talk sincerely with the companies and the creators about the professional ups and downs.