„Realizmusról, naturalizmusról és más badarságokról”. Gellért Endre 1952-es „Ványa bácsi” rendezése

Abstract

“On Realism, Naturalism and Similar Nonsense”. Endre Gellert’s 1952 interpretation of "Uncle Vanya"
The 1952 performance of Uncle Vanya, directed by Endre Gellert, is the crowning achievement of Hungarian Realist theatre, and it lives on in the collective memory of generations as a flawless masterpiece. It is remembered not solely as an aesthetic experience, but as a socio-political statement. In the Rákosi era, the repertoire of the Budapest national theatre was noticeably less constrained by ideology than that of other theatres in the capital city. The theatre’s intendant Tamás Major has completed his compulsory studies at Communist party school by 1949, and his fervent and committed declarations draw attention away from the new performances, as Major has an active role in Party politics, and asserts the interests of the theatre in daily Communist debates. The remembrance of the performance transforms the play speaking of the unbearable burden of existence in the difficult years of the Rákosi era into something akin to the language of political theatre. In my paper, I analyse the acting traditions of a theatre under dictatorship, an artistic practice tied to the acting methods and the ideals of realism.