12. Madách International Theatre Meeting

Az ember tragédiája (The Tragedy of Man), born at the end of the period of general despair over the fall of the 1848–49 Revolution and War of Independence and at the beginning of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise bringing about a decade of development, is the most well-known work of Hungarian dramatic literature abroad.

Csíksomlyói passió by the National Theatre in Budapest premiered in the Csíksomlyó mountain saddle on August 18, 2018.

In professional theatre circles, it is now a commonplace that in the post-dramatic era the classic conflict between heroes disappeared from the stage, and with it, the legitimacy of the dramatic dialogue also ceased to exist.

The Tragedy of Man on Hungarian stages for 140 years. Selection from the photo archive of the Hungarian Theatre Museum and Institute (OSZMI)

Towards the end of The Tragedy of Man, Adam, the first man, encounters the survivors of humanity – beyond the concluding catastrophe of world history, beyond the destruction of the natural environment, and also beyond a wave of population explosion that already equals extinction.

Imre Madách (1823–1864) started to work on the final version of his ‘dramatic poem’ of humanity in his very remote home, Alsósztregova, in 1859, exactly ten years after the defeat of the Hungarian war of independence.

What makes this classic of Baroque Spanish drama topical? What is the difference between film and theatre? What makes the Theatre Olympics special? These are some of the questions we asked of the British creators of Life is a Dream, a production coming to MITEM from Madrid. This performance staged by director Declan Donnellan and stage/costume designer Nick Ormerod is also about whether we can tell the difference between dreams and reality.

The audience will be able to follow live the process of mask painting and dressing up of Kathakali actors until 8:30 PM in the so-called "Green room".

An informative presentation about the myth and the poetry of the Indian Kathakali dance theatre Tiziana Barbiero, a founder member of the Teatro tascabile di Bergamo, will present the genre of Kathakali with the participation of the main actors, Kalamandalam John and Sadanam Krishnankutty, and the musicians.