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There is an old question: what would the poet with the burning soul do were he alive? He would leave his homeland. He would turn to dust. He would stand on the stairs and recite: Rise up, Hungarians! He would run in politics. He would fail, as usual. He would win the József Attila Prize. He would have the same trouble with publishing, obviously. He would be too much like this, too much like that. Petőfi would be too much.

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Petőfi Sándor, the Timișoara Hungarian Theatre in cooperation with the Odorheiu Secuiesc Tomcsa Sándor Theatre are paying tribute with a coproduction about the most famous figure of Hungarian literature.

”Michelangelo Merisi, I was born in Caravaggio, Lombardia province, 25 degrees, 29 minutes, 52 seconds north latitude and 9 degrees, 38 minutes, 35 seconds east longitude. It had no seaside, so we had to leave. You can’t stop before you get to the sea. Take everything, and never return. I don't remember my first love. It wasn’t first love after all. Love conquers all. Love does not conquer all, hell no! I had foreseen the catastrophe from the very beginning, but I couldn’t prevent it, and in fact the catastrophe struck much too early for me to even be able to recognize it. Not the plague, I don’t mean the plague. The plague was conquered by Bishop Carlo in Milano. Bishop Carlo knew just how to conquer the plague. He stripped to his skin, put on a cloak of sackcloth and marched bare-headed and barefoot with a big wooden cross on his shoulders from the gate of the Duomo to the Basilica of San Ambroggio, famous for having an ancient Roman sarcophagus beneath the pulpit. At the head of the procession there were naked monks flogging themselves.Their bodies were trailed by altar-boys. The crowd of little black and white angels of\death followed with the censer, then Bishop Carlo, and finally, at a safe distance, the great multitude, the whole of Milano. Marching, silence, the slapping of whips on naked backs. Bishops Carlo’s mud-stained feet bleeding profusely. Real blood. Real silence. When he arrived, the anguished bishop climbed up  into the pulpit of the Basilica of San Ambroggio and said the plague dwells insidiously in your hearts, it emanates from there. But I will chase the plague out of your hearts and contain it in this sarcophagus so it can never get out. That was how Bishop Carlo conquered the plague. A naked bishop: a comforting spectacle. For me, at least, it's as good a proof as any for the existence of God.”

Whether interpreting the various versions of folk ballads that have been handed down to us, such as "Júlia szépleány" or "Kőmíves Kelemenné" or the literary ballads of Arany János, like the widely quoted "Hídavatás" or "Ágnes asszony," Tar Mónika's performance stands out.

The concept of "balladic obscurity," and the genre features typical of ballads are not merely revisited but are placed in new interpretative frameworks during the performance. Simultaneously, the music composed by Balázs Márk and the animation created by Bálint Hunor construct a complex system of symbols around the figure of the performer. The performance re-creates the universe of the ballad at the level of the performed text but also by musicality and visuality.

1h45'

with EN translation, +14 

Dear citizens,

You have been invited here to take part in the selection of the candidates that applied in order to be accepted into the Great Onion.

You are in charge of the evaluation of the candidates.

In order for the candidates to be evaluated by you, the Commission, the candidates must provide:

1. Valid documents
2. Proof of their moral integrity
3. A skill set accepted by the Voice of Authority

Only if the candidate is able to fulfill all of these requirements, shall the Voice of the Authority permit the Commission to evaluate the candidates.

There is no space in the Great Onion for liars, bad citizens, unskilled citizens or citizens without valid documents.