A "semi-serious opera"—this is how the genre of Great sound in the Rush is defined, a chamber opera directed by Zoltán Balázs in celebration of composer László Sáry’s 75th birthday. We spoke with the director of Maladype Theatre not only about Wednesday’s premiere but also about the indictment against Stalin, the funding application process for independent theaters, and the necessity of renewal every seven years.

- Independent theaters rarely publish novels. yet, maladype recently published viktor kravchenko’s i chose freedom, an indictment against stalin.

A few years ago, Krétakör published The Art of the Present, an interview series with Ariane Mnouchkine, in which the world-famous theater creator mentioned Kravchenko’s 1946 work among the five books that shaped her life. The title piqued my interest because freedom is a central theme in my work. Initially, we tried to obtain the book from Russia. Given its evident American connection, we assumed it had been published in Russian. We were wrong, and it is telling that, 24 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, no Russian publisher has dared to reissue it.
Three years ago, we located the author’s only living son, Andrew Kravchenko, in the U.S., who holds the rights. It took two years of negotiations to secure the rights for translation and stage adaptation. Historian Péter Konok translated the book into Hungarian, capturing the strong, striking tone needed for the text. Interest in the book has remained steady since its publication.

- After the latest round of operational grants from EMMI, you issued a statement criticizing the professional committee’s allocation of funds. The curators argued that larger, internationally recognized theaters received less because they could secure funding elsewhere. I found a lack of solidarity in your statement.

I said everything I needed to in the statement, including regarding solidarity. I have moved on; we must continue working with the little money we received. I did not complain that our previous amount was not doubled—I questioned why money was taken away when no additional funds were available. I missed a clear vision from the curators. Project grants cannot be compared to operational funding.

-Curators suggested raising ticket prices—is that feasible?

- They made their point; one can accept it or not... but our situation is unique. We run a permanent venue at Mikszáth Square, for which we pay rent and utilities. We don’t have a host institution supporting us. While we will raise ticket prices where possible, our venue is tiny—if we pack in 80 people, it’s unbearable in the summer. We offer various ticket types, from supporter and donor tickets to dinner tickets, but for some performances, we must keep prices stable due to our audience’s composition.

- Were you more of a “hyped” director early in your career?

- What’s trendy today may not be tomorrow. The media, theater scene, and film industry have their circles, cliques, and dinner-party networks. Those inside are in the “inner circle.” I don’t care about that. Some believed they had figured out the theatrical language I developed in Maladype’s first seven years. Later, they were surprised that new productions did not build on the previous ones. For Ubu and Exercises in Style, we held open rehearsal periods where the audience could follow the creative process. The viewers became our strong, stable partners.

- Opera always returns to your life — would you work for the hungarian state opera if invited?

- Of course! Opera is a special gift for a director open to sophisticated challenges. I directed Heinrich Marschner’s The Vampire in France and brought it to Szeged’s Armel Opera Festival. The Mikado was another complex operatic task, involving puppetry. In Maladype’s early years, I collaborated extensively with László Sáry—The School for Fools, The Blacks, Empedocles... This long hiatus felt strange. I’m thrilled that we can now stage his anniversary production with Lajos Rozmán and his ensemble, the Qaartsiluni Ensemble. Like our previous work Theomachia—which starred Ilona Béres—this piece is also based on Sándor Weöres’ work. The term “semi-serious opera” speaks volumes: playfulness and creativity are essential.

By Katalin Szemere, nol.hu, 2015

Translation by Zsuzsanna Juraszek