Northern Theatre Harag György Company

The premiere of the play by Varga Lóránt, a contemporary Hungarian playwright, is also a premiere, as the director Lendvai Zoltán's work is the first time that the extremely exciting play, which explores the problems of our time, is being staged.

The director is a returning guest of the Harag György Company, whose name is associated with several premieres: Spíró György: Hello, Doctor Mengele! and Székely Csaba's Nothing to Regret. In addition to the premieres, he is also responsible for such crowd-pleasers as There's No Cure for Family, Funny Money and Lovers of Ancona.

”Over the past decade, it has become an important mission of the Harag György Company to stage the works of contemporary playwrights, and to include a world premiere in every season. This is an important aspect of our programming policy, which aims to revive a noble tradition in the history of the company, which provided an important platform for contemporary Hungarian drama in Transylvania during the dark and repressive period before the regime change. Many plays by Kányádi Sándor or Kocsis István were first performed on the Satu Mare stage, interpreted by extraordinary actors, but the works of Sütő András were also regularly performed. It is in the spirit of reviving this important tradition that we have staged plays by Szőcs Géza, Visky András, Spiró György, Székely Csaba, Láng Zsolt and Hatházi András over the past decade, and in the same spirit we have also staged the exciting text by Varga Lóránt. The studio performance that we are presenting now, I feel, is worthy of the attention of several generations, because the performance - at least on the surface - also addresses the problems of education, but in a way that actually speaks about our society as a whole. It is perhaps no coincidence that there is already considerable professional interest in the performance, while tickets for the first two performances are already scarce." - says Bessenyei Gedő István, artistic director of the Harag György Company.

Lendvai Zoltán came across the works of contemporary playwright Varga Lóránt in connection with another theatre production, and after reading several of them, he chose Interactive. He was struck by the fact that Varga talks about serious issues, with very witty writing, and offers good acting opportunities for the actors. Moreover, until the end of the play, the audience itself doesn't know who to agree with, on issues that affect everyone.
" The presentation raises many questions. One thing is for sure, the world is changing. But for the better? Do you like the processes you see? Or does it hurt to lose the values you believed in? And what are you, of all people, doing to protect what you once held dear? How far are you willing to go on their behalf? Would you stand up to others for them? Or are you sufficiently burnt out and cynical that you'd rather bluster than act? And is there (still) anything to do at all, and if so, what? And what if you act, but your point of view is not the right one? What if you just want to impose something on the world that no longer exists? Or what if it's not just the noble goal that drives you? If you just want to prove yourself to others, or if you just want power? And anyway, if the end is holy, are all means really permitted?" - the director lists the questions that not only preoccupied the author of the play, but also make the audience ponder while watching the performance

„What happens when five teachers start talking to each other? As a matter of course, they talk about children, about being a teacher, about teaching, as if there had never been any other topic in the universe. The same is not true of the five teachers who accompany the school choir on a trip abroad. The children are already in their rooms, the teachers gather for a friendly chat - nothing formal, just us adults among friends.
But what happens when one of the teachers has a specific plan for the evening? Will he achieve his goal, and if he does, will everyone be happy? As time goes by and the mood becomes lighter, opinions about education, about rigour, about whether leniency helps the students and thus the next generation, or whether rigour, discipline and even violence are needed. And, of course, where is the line to be drawn, the line behind which we must no longer step?
Time passes, opinions and passions become more open, and the issue is no longer about a primary school, but about the governance of a much larger institution, which is ultimately a matter for everyone to decide, teachers and viewers alike.” – said the synopsis of the presentation.

Cast: Nagy Csongor Zsolt, Bogár Barbara, Rappert-Vencz Stella, Varga Sándor and Méhes Kati. Set design: Fornvald Gréti, costume Szabó Anna, stage manager and prompter: Varga Katalin.