Bitef

Više se ne seča címe je prestrašio gradonačelnika. Za budučnost nema više nikakve ideje i svaki nastup mu je glup. Istovremeno se zaljubljuje i u gradonačelnikovu Ženu i u čerku. Traži novae na zajam, več i zato što mu je i pre toga prvi od koga je to tražio rado izišao u susret. Tek na kraju prvog čina shvata da ga smatraju nekim višim činovnikom. Glumač treba da obrati pažnju na to da predoči žudnju. tu detinjastu žudnju. koją je manje-više svojstvena svakom čoveku. a kod Hlestakova naročilo dolazi do izražaja. Ta žudnja živi i u mnogim pametnim ljudima. i tokom života se kad-tad pojavi. Dakle. glumač koji igra tu ulogu mora da je mnogostrani umetnik i mora biti sposoban da izrazi različite karakterne osobine. Mora biti svetski čovek, inače neče moči da izrazi svu svetsku lakomislenost koja čoveka. a naročilo Hlestakova uvlači u sve i svašta. Posjednju scenu treba vrlo razložno komponovati. Tu je več kraj svake šale i mnogi su več u skoro tragičnem položaju. Najviše se iznenaduje gradonačelnik. Sve bi podneo, ali da ga neko tako prevari i uz to još jedna ništarija koja nema ni izgled ni pojavu, koji skoro da izgleda kao trska (jer znamo da je Hlestakov izuzetno mršav, dok su svi ostali debeli). Dakle, ako ga je neko takav prevario. to več nije šala! Grubo prevariti njega, koji je ljude i osobe premazane svim bojama umeo da vuče za nos! Pojava pravog revizora pogada ga kao grom iz vedra neba. Skameni se. Njegove raširenc ruke se parališu. a i svi ostali

glumci oko njega se skamene u različitim položajima ... d

Nikolai Gogol: The Government Inspector In this w’orld of decay and brutality where there is nothing agreable. tasteful, sincerely affectionate or unselfish. rats from the gutter are fighting out a battle of life and death: they are all ugly, squalid and cruel. The mayor, the district judge, the school director, the postmaster, the physician - all seem to be survivors of a post-atomic world, where everything degenerates into its caricature, □ Gazella di Parma, 30 April 1988, Valeria Ottolenghi The second offering of the Katona József Theatre, The Government Inspector, a new production by art director Gábor Zsárabéki. confirmed the extraordinär)' faculties of this company. Gogol's text is played in an explosively forceful way. penetrated by a highly specific evil-boding tone which, as a result of the degrading disfigurement of the characters, has at the same time also a pointedly grotesque effect. This determined re-

search for a new' form transcends realism, creating a style based upon violence and extremity. A devastating criticism of a world, a merciless and threatening exposure of baseness and disorder. (...) The actors are quite simply superb. Special mention must be made of Péter Blaskó who in the role of the mayor displays a complete gamut of transitions (...) and of Juli Básti who, only yesterday a heroine of Tchekhov, changed the following night into an entirely despicable mayoress. And these are only two names singled out from an experienced and exuberant company that makes engaged theatre for broad masses and shows itself a creative force within its profession. □ Avvenire, 30 April 1988, Odoardo Bertani After Three Sisters the company of Budapest’s Katona József Theatre moved once more into the focus of interest at the Parma Theatre Festival, this time with its production of Gogol’s The Government Inspector. It w'ould be nice if the international success stor)' of this particularly vivid. fascinating, irresistibly comical performance began just here in Italy. (...) In the production of this Hungarian theatre the much-dreaded inspector makes an appearance in his physical reality; his mute presence is threatening, bloodcurdling even, yet highly elegant. And then one of the notabilities, and the oldest and sickliest at that, lets the guillotine fall upon him with a movement swift and firm of

purpose, and the inconvenient visitor disappears. While in Three Sisters one could feel a touch of Stanislavsky’s spirit, in The Government Inspector one can detect rather more the influence of Meyerhold: the acceleration of rythm, the striking expressivity of physical playing, the impressive acrobativ prowess of the chief character... It is amazing indeed that the same actor, the excellent János Bán was seen only the day before as the mild and awkward Baron Tusenbach of Three Sisters! □ L’Unila, Roma. 30 April 1988, Aggeo Savioli This production boldly breaks through the philosophical and stylistic borders of the play, borders which convention established as definitively closed down. The acting starts from the strictly realistic elements of life observed, only to transcend everyday behaviour patterns and to swing over to the compacted world of puppet-like stylization. It discards the requisites of historic presentation, in order to obey the more the author's appeal that we. the public are asked to recognize ourselves. (...) Jan Kott called the play “the first tragic farce”. And this is exactly what it becomes in this production which makes us laugh in an electrifying way and plunges us at the same time into an ominous depression. aÉlet és irodalom , (Life and Litterature), Budapest. 1 January 1988, Tamás Koltai