12. Madách International Theatre Meeting

Synergy World Theatre Festival was founded in Novi Sad, Serbia in 2017, to serve as a platform for theatres and companies that operate along the borders of various language communities and cultures. The festival has taken place in Novi Sad since its inception, with the city’s support, organised by Novi Sad Theatre/Novosadsko Pozorište.

Attila Vidnyánszky staged Ferenc Juhász's huge poem in 2003 and in 2013, a feature film was released based on the performance, starring Mari Törőcsik and Zsolt Trill. Poetry, theatre, film and the story of a company – these are some of topics to be discussed by the cast and the director.

The Sári Fedák Prize is presented after the performance The Totes. The Prize was established in 2022 by Nelli Szűcs, founder and still active member of the Berehove company.

Round table discussion on Berehove Theatre. Participants: Árpád Árkosi, László Brenzovics, László Bérczes, Ernő Verebes, Lajos Pál, Attila Vidnyánszky. / Moderated by András Kozma

In 2005, Berehove Theatre organised the International Stalker Festival. Invited companies included Bárka and Új Színház from Budapest, János Pályi, the New York-based company In Parenthesis, DAH Theatre from Kyiv, and Hattyúdal Színház. Encounters, shared experiences – a film by László Olivér Oláh.

Roles, performances, faces - moments captured from the decades of Berehove Theatre. Photographs by Béla Ilovszky and Zsolt Szabó Eöri.

The Madách International Theatre Meeting, held in the framework of the 10th International Theatre Olympics, once again provided many exciting lessons. It raised three major themes: the war, humankind’s ecological responsibility and the dialogue between East and West in the language of theatre – and sometimes these themes overlapped.

By addressing theatre students from eleven countries with our Madách project, it was settled on my part that I would stage The Tragedy as a drama of humanity. After all, these students, from Cairo to Toronto, from Tbilisi to Liverpool, represent humanity, the entirety of our modern world.

Screenings, discussions, audience meetings, an exhibition - events, memories, past and present issues from three decades of Berehove Theatre. Entrance to the screenings and discussions is free of charge.

The Madách Project was a special event at the 10th Theatre Olympics, with the participation of student actors from 11 countries. Over 200 students from Poland, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Romania, the UK, France, Georgia, Canada and Hungary presented their home-produced scenes and then, under the direction of Attila Vidnyánszky, they put together a Tragedy performance presented in an industrial hall in Budapest’s Hajógyári sziget (Shipyard Island). MITEM’s Tragedy Marathon features a short making-of documentary alongside a recording of the monumental seven-hour multilingual performance.