Sándor Zsótér in spite of the five hundred red gloves, which characterise the set and the properties, does not treat the actors of Maladype Theatre with hands in gloves, who can perform all tasks excellently, with fast changes. The red string, which they always handle, crochet, straighten and roll up, can lead the viewers into the depth of the decadency of power with playful safety.

The actors in the authentic dress-reminiscences (Mari Benedek), which are defined by pink and red and with some properties can change roles and genders in the Zsótér-performance, which is special, but now filled with some easy irony and critic, it is freely full of ideas, and fast. In this performance we can follow not only a choice of king, which turns into parody, but the unbearable easiness of a tyrant killer’s last night too.

The five “story tellers” under some sections of history lessons, which are stuck on the wall, forced into the corner (set: Mária Ambrus) can show the intrigues of the glorious and “complicated” historical era in the historical place of Firenze, the multi-faced “mother”, who is put in the performance like a colourful metaphor in many ways.

The scenes, which are many times cut into one sentence long, has complicated and rich texts, in which there are references to Zsuzsi Mary and Cezar, in sound we go up until the Ghostbusters. The followers of the republic and the of the prince, and the hundred armed monster, the faceless crowd who are the ghosts of past, the topics and practices (love, power of world and religion and all kind of Morals in connection with them) have not changed a lot.

Who can hardly get the intriguing lines from one another, for example, that what can be their motifs, who do they want to kill and why, and then who belongs to whom, do not hesitate in connection with the play by Alfred de Musset, which performance can be seen in Thália Theatre. Lorenzaccio disproves that bitter student experience, when a story of an unfollowable play cannot get into its place even after a boring theatre visit. The performance can help anyway the viewers, who are in dark, that some actors have more roles, and only the titles of the scenes, and more punctual set of the places can sign the changes of the changes.

Thanks for the hard work and method (too) they have done with Zoltán Balázs also those, who are standing like statues of frescos while they are not performing, can comment the happenings, and they can alienate their roles, which can be fixed according to classical theatrical traditions, with some facial expressions and gestures. They do it more often closer to the ending: as Lorenzaccio, whose knowledge about humans, would turn into nihil and cynicism, and the “hero” who is changed because of it – the presence of the phase can influence the performers, who with their performance get out more wildly from the “performance” itself.

We can appreciate the actors’ performances from scenes to scenes. They can form any tiny things into properties, and they can play with the text, with the role and not lastly with the viewers on more levels. The overgrowth of play cannot cover, but help to make our view clearer, to make sharper our own position as observer, and make the mental more vivid.

We luxuriate in this theatrical baroque, where from previously fast crocheted and knitted strings built castles and secret union can come up. Or where a chain of gloves can become a dragon, cat, but it can become cardinal robe, noble coat, or blanket before a sexual affair. The head of the watering can is a megaphone of the noble from Firenze and of gossips too, from the ball of strings can be a beating hearth, from the rubber glove can be a hat and the hidden side of the soul. These associative ideas characterize the translation too (Júlia Ungár), and the speech too and as well as the usage of text, up until the sarcastic speaking which can make parody of the virtual anonymity of blog writers and heroes of action film, for example the funny Hungarian nicknames of the characters.

The pettiness, which can be heard on more register, and appears according to the herd mentality of the “defining” happenings of history, of the characters, and of the unfixed material of reality from love affairs, of values. The power consists of scales of plays for power, acting is nothing else, than the performance of it, which can keep the story and the text, give possibility for interpretation, but its intertextual net can make the overwriting of elements, which is needed by the genre in many ways.

All of it is done that way that the “abuse” does not seem to be abuse: the almost baroque-like corner theatre, which gets filled with verbal and nonverbal ideas, and the virtuosity of its fulfilment, can talk about the mechanism of power by pushing a complicated story into one direction. Finally, the eternal holder of power will always be a faceless puppet, which is supported by bloody hands. We cannot avoid knitting on the ideas after leaving the theatre, when any teenagers can become attention-seeking terrorists, who spend their last hours with teenager-like slow acting, and where those can get Noble Piece Price, who have decided on the method of military intervention.

Let’s put on the gloves and grab the string, which Sándor Zsótér’s work together with the actors of Maladype Theatre throw to us.

VMR, kulturpart.hu, 2009

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)