Titleless Performance about the Homeless
Directed by: István Albu
Texts: István Albu, Johanna Bertóti, Noémi Daróczi
Playreader: Johanna Bertóti
Costume designer: Andrea Kürti
Production assistant: Krisztina Sipos
Lights and sound: Tamás Imecs
Featuring: Zsolt Csepei, Noémi Daróczi, Levente Imecs-Magdó, Éva Imre, Bence Molnár, Maja Sebők, Emese Simó, Nándor Vetési
First run: December 16, 2012, at Váróterem
Language: Hungarian, with Romanian subtitles
This play features a non-traditional approach of the topic, i.e. lacking the traditional theatrical means as it elaborates a non-existent play. The starting point consist of presenting a reality experienced by all of us: the people that had to resort to living on the streets as well as the members of the performing group, basically by anybody.
The creators of this play have been inspired by the lives lived in their close proximity: on the street. An essential part of the rehearsals had been the research that consisted of meeting and interviewing the homeless. The next step had been a close examination of the body of literature on the subject (documentaries, plays or even pieces of writings authored by the homeless). The audience, therefore, is facing a rare case when the work process generates both the play itself, i.e. the text, and its rendering.
The structure of the play may also be considered somewhat unconventional. The audience will not be presented one story line but different story fragments that are connected to several subtopics all forming one whole jigsaw puzzle. While engaged in this particular chain rehearsal the performing group mainly focused on the following issues: How can they complete (or rather fulfil) such a demanding mission as the one in question: approaching a complex yet weighty topic? What are the omissions and malpractices that affect this layer of society and how could a play shed light on these? Is it possible to really help these people without only wanting to quench our conscience’s inevitable thirst? Is it enough, nay, is it ethical to create a play inspired by them?
Festival Participation:
June 27, 2013 – Festival of Hungarian Theatres at Kisvárda, 25th edition
Lilla Turbuly: Two Uncomfortable Hours
7óra7, 16th July 2013
“The theatre group (Csepei Zsolt, Daróczi Noémi, Imecs-Magdó Levente, Imre Éva, Molnár Bence, Sebők Maya, Simó Emese, Vetési Nándor) will inevitable do everything in their power to bring us closer to that world and they do this while paying great attention to each other, naturally and a with pretenceless playing manner, and this sensation will surpass all those scenes that otherwise could have been considered deliberately overdone. (…)
The performance of the WRP endeavours to approach with good will and tact through the means of the theatre this politically and socially unsolvable question.”
Samu Csinta: Transylvanian Productions on the Stage of the Theatre Festival of Kisvárda
Székelyhon.ro, 28th June 2013
“There is no solution – how would the theatre find the answer to a question that has been troubling the whole of the modern society without an answer – the viewers, however, will analyse their own attitude to this worldly reality until the break of dawn, a world that only a few of us will succeed to handle sympathetically. These professional theatrical performances combined with the clips presenting interviews with the homeless provide a great aid – although the less is more phrase would apply to the latter.”
Anikó Varga: Invisible Lines
Kisvárdai Lapok, 28th June 2013
“Throughout the performance of the WTP the language seeking in the most likable. The creators of the play accurately sense that the realistic theatrical presentation does not prove to be a fertile soil in this respect that is why the homeless is presented in the midst of a documentary filming; the afford mentioned protagonist is lured in by a host/presenter whose figure seems to be a mixture between Bear Grylls and David Attenborough, provoking the subject of the interview with cigarette buds and alcohol.”
Bea Kovács: Homless in the Waiting Room
Játéktér.ro, 4th of January 2013
“This production of the WRP abounds in ingenious ideas besides the very first one, the titleless-ness of the performance (playreader: Bertóti Johanna): Imecs-Magdó Levente as a self-important waiter places the guests’ glasses on the floor as there are no tables, in the same scene we witness funny moments created by Vetési Nándor in the role of a physically disabled homeless (his character will be seen again at a dinner with the mayor, although I perceived the discreetly simulated oral sex scene as spoon-feeding of the viewership).
On the other hand in a new scene Vetési is unbelievably funny as an orthodox priest, as it exhibits some of the well-known religious and nationalistic stereotypes. Another popular scene was Csepei’s return as an energetic TV guru who with his dynamic game creates a great parody of the popular media. ”