A man can become more appreciated, if he has many girls, but a woman has to be even more careful in connection with her reputation than her virtue. The sexual over powered nature is usual, as well as the fact, that everybody wants somebody, who they cannot get (easily). There are things, which have never changed by centuries.

In the Great Hall of Maladype Theatre, the auditorium with its two lines, in four groups, can form a cross like place: it marks from the door to the window a shorter one, and from door to door a longer corridor. In a civilian flat it is worth performing a play of tricks: the rooms, which are opened from one another, can help the intriguers to hide from one another, listen to each other, and watch each other too. It is a surprise, that who will appear behind any doors. An armchair is enough as a property, it is needed, because they must be able to hide somewhere inside the room too.

The story is easy: everybody wants to have sex, because of love, pleasure or because they would like to benefit from it. The story is complicated: everybody wants to make others, do what they want them to do, even if they do not want to. There is a couple: Count and Countess Almaviva, and an engaged couple: Figaro, the Count’s and Suzanne, the Countess’ servant. Doctor Bartholo and the old maid, Marceline, form the third couple, a forth one is made by Chérubin, the Countess’ courter and Fanchette, the Count’s lover, they have not been married yet. After five acts long intrigues, confusion and understanding, new couples are formed or reformed, and we are crying and laughing meanwhile, we agree and disagree with them, all according to their virtue.

Everybody want a marriage, not because of the married life, but because of the pleasures of their wedding night. According to it, almost all characters wear a wedding costume. The women are in colour, which are connected to their innocence: the countess is in white, Suzanne is in ecru, Fanchette in beige, Marceline is in black, because of her age and being a girl-mother. The men are in suit of wedding, except for Figaro, who is wearing orange trousers and grey T-shirt. However, between the other characters, he is the one, who wants marriage the most. His special nature cannot be made more obvious than this way.

From properties, they also have the most necessary ones, only a woman cloth, a woman bra gets more, special attention, which is used as garter, hairband but it is useful as a bandage for wounds, especially for the wounds of heart: it is a memory for the hopeless lovers.

Júlia Ungár’s translation is lively, funny and brief; there are not many hurting modern or old fashioned phrases in it. The text can be told well: the story can be followed easily by those, who do not know the play.

Ákos Orosz in the role of Figaro is a full man: he is robust, clever and imaginative, activity radiates from him. In his eyes the sensual pleasure is sparkling, which is motivated by whether love or intrigue. He performs actively. His Figaro can sweep aside all barriers of his marriage, and meanwhile, because of the turning of situations the clever man learns to be a sensitive one too.

Mari Törőcsik is impressive is Marceline’s role. She is walking on high heels defying her own age; she is stylish, seductive and irresistible. She can change without any sign, her volume, face expression, voice and feeling: her performance is varied, burning and overwhelming. Her Marceline is driven by love, she wants sexual affair the most. From her mouth the feminist notice about the hopeless situation of women, who are oppressed by male society, sound not silly but suffering.

Judit Kovács Liget is wearing with dignity the trained bride dress. She is almost always confused in the countess’ role: she sometimes turns red because of her own sensual desires, and then because of the suspicion, she gets into. I feel more powerful her desire toward Cherubin, than her love towards her husband. However, she aimlessly recognises the squire, who gets into her way, because of the unfulfilled desires towards her husband. She is innocent in spite of her so-called cheating, she becomes an intriguer unintentionally and by necessity.

Kamilla Fátyol performs the only honest girl, Fanchette, who is humiliated and used by orders. From the button of hierarchy of power, she obviously accepts her affair with the count, she has no reason to hide her lost virtue, as she has not possibility for social rise. The actress with big eyes and pursed lips can make the character’s naivety more entertaining than pathetic.

Zénó Faragó in Cherubin’s role is a sexual teenager boy, who cannot do anything with himself, with his physical power and feelings. He desires all women, a knightly love can connect him only to the countess of course, he writes and sings his romance to her, and after it, he would jump on anyone, who is in front of him. It is very obvious in connection with him, that he loves the feeling of love, and not the concrete objects of it. The actor sometimes rises than closes his eyes for female beauty, and then he blinks, and he shakes because of the women’s presence. He can hardly stop touching the breasts and edges of dress, which are in short distance. His exaltation, constant embarrassment and sufferings can make comic all moments of his performance.

Ádám Tompa’s appearance is elegant, in action he is the convenient count, he moves with those men’s confidence, who does not need many effort to court, or more precisely to get women; he gets used to, that he can do anything, and that he can get anything. That why it is easy to trap him: the refusal from Suzanne and the suspicion about the countess’ infidelity can ruin his self-conscious. According to Ádám Tompa’s performance, he talks about the “cheatings” inside, and that way he can make more exciting the tension between the loudly said words and his thoughts. He is especially powerful in the scene, when he is unsuccessfully tries to push into the corner, the trio of the countess-Suzannes-Figaro.

Zoltán Lendváczky gets the exercise to form all the three characters besides the couples. He is remarkably silly in the role of Don Believing Young Girl, of the judge. He disappears sometimes behind the brim of his hat, and makes the figure totally funny by the common nodding of his head. In the role of Antonio, the drunken gardener, he appears half-naked, by pushing on his hip. He forms a definitely insignificant figure. In the role of Bazile, who is the main intriguer, he makes the character’s look very cruel by his furrowed brow: his elegant black suit shows the importance of the figure, however in this intrigue he does not get the main role.

Erika Tankó’s Suzanne is pretty girl, with nice voice. Her relationships to the others are obvious: she loves only Figaro, she serves the Countess, she behaves that way with them, and with the others too, anybody can be there. Her embarrassment is honest, when following the countess’ order, she cannot talk to Figaro about the game, which is against her future husband too that way.

Zsolt Páll in the role of Bartholo is powerless, his body and education can serve some confidence, but he is lack of determination, he is connected stubbornly to his decision, until he does not give himself up, in an accepted way, the others can soften him without fight, and finally he voluntarily accepts their will.

The night scene can be thanked for the unified common performance, when the countess and Suzanne cheat their husbands in each other’s dresses. Sándor Zsótér chooses to complete the anyway full lighting with blue neon light, so we can see everything. In spite of it, it is obvious, that from the characters who sees who, and who does not recognise or hear whom, anyway they use the easiest artistic tool: they do not look at those, they cannot see, and do not react on the voices of those, they cannot hear. I admire the punctual artistic performance, which makes me believe, that everybody can see, hear and believe only those things, and they want to see, hear and believe. Many of us behave that way outside the stage too.

Sándor Zsótér performs wonderful scales of pictures, the sensuality gets the main role: it will be memorable for a long time, as the trail flies in the space, or as the characters kneels down in front of their count one by one. In the middle of his performance, where the feelings are the most important, there is love and/or sex, and he talks about power, intrigues, pretending, politics from the point of view of these. The performance can remain entertaining from the beginning until the end, in spite of the fact, that more and more emphasize is put on the endless sadness of the characters’ situations. However, in Beaumarchais’ play everybody finds his/her partner, in the middle we cannot find the pleasure of finding, but the big holes, which remain there.

Judit Radnóti, Kikötő Online, 2011

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)