Schilling Árpád and the creators of EXIT tackle the topic of the emigrating immigrants
Schilling Árpád and the creators of EXIT tackle the topic of the emigrating immigrants
The 10th edition of TESZT will start with EXIT, a coproduction between the Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre of Timișoara, the Ioan Slavici Classical Theatre of Arad and the Sombor National Theatre. The performance is directed by Schilling Árpád, who was present at last year's edition of TESZT with the performance The Day of Fury.During the rehearsals, consisting of several different stages, the creators of EXIT, of Hungarian, Romanian and Serbian nationality, used their own experiences, cultural identities and prejudices. The characters of the performance are economic migrants, locked up inside a building that has been out of use, somewhere in Great Britain. They have arrived from various Eastern European countries: they want both to get out and to get in somewhere. Those from outside have promised them that everything will be sorted out and that they should not do anything other than wait.
The performance analyses this seemingly endless wait in seven scenes. This laboratory situation is perfectly suited for self-examination. It is about us, those from the East, those from the Balkans: the emigrating immigrants. "How is it to have already left something without yet receiving something else in return?
To be torn away from home and to have to integrate into a new, unknown world can present unthinkable difficulties. Yet a large number of people undertake these difficulties simply because they don't see other options." - writes the director, Schilling Árpád. The performance analyses this seemingly endless wait in seven scenes, the reflexes, the habits, the inherited and learned behavioural patterns, the lack of trust, the prejudices, the fears and desires of the emigrating immigrants from the Balkans. "We would like to discuss our present fears, hopes, dreams, about what we think that we could get from the West, what it would be like to live in Great Britain, what our expectations are, what automatisms or misunderstandings they cause, in how many ways we can fool ourselves. Of course, behind all of these experiences we carry our whole history and culture. What interests me is that if we want to solve our problems in the present, our personal problems, those of our family, of a small community, we have to be willing to rethink these experiences. (...) This is like a lab experiment: let see, what will we end up with?"
The performance is not based on a pre-existing dramatic text. During the rehearsals the director offered scenes and characters for the actors to improvise with. The resulting scenes first were condensed and completed according to dramaturgical criteria by co-writer Láng Annamária and dramaturg Bíró Bence. "Our main goal was to get to know the actors as well as possible, that is why we conducted interviews with them preceding the rehearsals." - says dramaturg Bíró Bence. "Árpád relies very much on the actors, he never gives them tasks that would not suit them, that don't already exist in them as a seed. When he is working on the concept of the show, he knows exactly who will play what part. Of course we, too, are constantly observing the actors and it is also our job to challenge them and give them tailor-made tasks, so the performance depends largely on the actors, who play it." - says co-writer Láng Annamária.
From the beginning till the end, all twelve actors are on stage. Thus spectators can freely choose who interests them, who they prefer to watch. The director uses no set or costumes. What we see is the minimalist aesthetics of the empty stage, the actors in their uniqueness and interdependence.
Schilling Árpád, one of the best-known Hungarian theatre director, founded the internationally acclaimed Krétakör Theatre in 1995. Since 2008, after the dissolution of Krétakör as a repertory company, Krétakör Foundation has been implementing artistic, pedagogical and social projects.
EXIT is performed by Balázs Attila, Bandi András Zsolt, Csata Zsolt, Ninoslav Đorđević, Éder Enikő, Andrei Elek, Branislav Jerković, Mátrai Lukács Sándor, Dragana Šuša, Tokai Andrea, Vass Richárd and Carmen Vlaga-Bogdan. The interpreters for the project were Kedves Emőke and Molnár Zoltán, while the production coordinators Dobre Júlia, Fekete Réka, Gálovits Zoltán, Bojana Kovačević, Ságodi Ildikó and the stage manager Kertész Éva.
The premiere of EXIT will take place as part of TESZT festival on May 21th, 20.00, in the Main Hall of the Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre. The premiere in Timișoara will be followed by additional openings, as it follows: on May 31st, 20.00, at the Sombor National Theatre, and on June 8th, 19.00, at the Ioan Slavici Classical Theatre of Arad.
