Northern Theatre Harag György Company

The Harag György Company performed in Budapest with Richard III: the production directed by István Albu opened the 13th Madách International Theatre Meeting, Hungary’s largest international theatre festival.
Following the February announcement of the guest performance, tickets for the production—awarded two UNITER prizes (Best Performance and Best Direction)—sold out very quickly. The April 10 show was attended by nearly 650 people, including additional seating.

Richard III attracted not only the Budapest festival audience and Hungarian theatre professionals—many people from Satu Mare and Transylvania living in Budapest were also present, including those who had not seen the performance at home but did not want to miss the experience. The directors of the Romanian Cultural Institutes in Budapest and Vienna also attended the performance.

With the Budapest show, the number of capitals where the company has staged Richard III has grown to three, as the production has also been featured at festivals in Bucharest and Chișinău.
After the performance, an audience meeting took place in the first-floor foyer of the National Theatre, moderated by dramaturge Edit Kulcsár. The creators and performers discussed the production and answered questions from the audience.

Company director István Gedő Bessenyei spoke about the professional development and strategies of the past fifteen years, which have led to the Harag György Company being recognized among the most important theatre companies in Romania. Key milestones on this path include appearances at MITEM, invitations to the Romanian National Theatre Festival (FNT), and last year’s success of Richard III, when three UNITER nominations resulted in two awards. This year as well, the company received the highest number of nominations among Hungarian-language companies in Romania, earning five nominations (the awards gala will take place on May 25 at the Odeon Theatre in Bucharest).

Director István Albu spoke about his directorial concept and the style that has become his trademark in recent years, in which songs by well-known bands complement the story and shape the dramaturgy of the performance. Zsolt Csongor Nagy, who plays the title role, offered insight into the creative process, highlighting collaboration with the band alongside building the Shakespearean protagonist.

The production was also personally congratulated by Attila Vidnyánszky, director of the National Theatre in Budapest and MITEM, who noted in response to an audience question that while many outstanding companies have appeared on the festival’s stage, very few can claim to have been invited three times over its 13-year history. The Harag György Company previously participated with two premieres: Pornó, written and directed by András Visky, and Rasputin, directed by Sardar Tagirovsky. The latter director is also present at this year’s edition with a production by the Tatar State Drama Theatre of Almetyevsk.