Farmer theater as an art project, it has existed for 47 years. It was initiated by students and professors of acting in the Hungarian language at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. The idea was to perform plays in the villages during the summer Vojvodina where Hungarians live (and where there is no theater). During the summer months, young actors and their more experienced colleagues prepare a play in the theater commune in Kavil, and then perform the play several dozen times during the summer. This unique cultural enterprise in our country did not receive financial support this year, like many other valuable art projects, at provincial competitions in the field of culture. However, it survived thanks to the help of the National Council of Hungarians.
Salaško Theater is basically a traveling theater that performs in rural communities. The production requirements also dictate the repertoire - the theater piece must be such that it makes sense to play it outdoors, in an atmosphere that has something of the spirit that characterizes the fair (vendors selling popcorn, seeds, barbecue, drinks, music). In their long history, European theater companies played a lot (from the Middle Ages to the middle of the 19th century in our region) in these or similar conditions. Their performances were mostly based on improvisations, so there are still not many preserved texts written for folk theatre. Some contemporary authors, such as Eden von Horvat and Darius Fo, during the 20th century wrote plays inspired by the folk theater tradition. A year ago, we watched a successful performance in Kavil Casimir and Caroline Eden von Horvath (directed by Robert Leonard). This year, the director Andraš Urban decided to stage an adaptation of the famous play by Ivo Brešan Performance of Hamlet in the village of Mrduša Donja, which is called in the Hungarian translation Peasant Hamlet.
photo: promo...
Those who have not read the play carefully or have only heard of it, might think that it is a simple satire on the shortcomings of socialist construction. However, this extraordinary comedy by Ivo Brešan talks about something much deeper, which has been relevant in this area for a long time, and concerns us as well. The play is about how those who extorted a lot of money from their poor community are trying to turn a blind eye to the robbed citizens by organizing a folk performance. That event should divert the public's attention from what is important and encourage unity and trust, which have been shaken by the robbery. Through the dramatic plot, Ivo Brešan lucidly reveals how the thief's mechanism works and why the citizens fail to defeat it. The government offers a clear option to everyone - either you participate in the event and get a small charm or you will be labeled and chased out of society. Poor citizens ignore the obvious - the great theft of common property also represents great harm to every individual citizen. But since that common good was not stolen from him personally, the citizen does not see the connection between the common good and his immediate interest and chooses petty, personal benefit. The role of an intellectual is particularly interesting (in the village he is a teacher and is played by Endre Gustonj). The teacher knows what the play Hamlet is, he knows the truth about the robbery, but he participates in the whole ruse out of fear for his bare survival and his own position. Only the one who is personally affected by theft and embezzlement protests against this situation, but since he is alone, he has no chance in this fight. The play brilliantly intertwines great literature and popular wit - the personal struggle of a country boy (Zolt Mendrei) to correct the injustice done to his father and the situation of the prince Hamlet who wants to avenge his father at the court ruled by Claudius.
Director Andraš Urban and his collaborative team (assistant director and costume designer Zoltan Puškaš and playwrights Lila Greguš and Endre Gustonj) summarized the text well and left what is the essence of the dramatic story. They did not adapt the dramatic text in such a way that it openly and directly points the finger at the current government, but at the general and multi-decade problem of the relationship of citizens towards their own community. The situation of the street, folk theater corresponds very well with the basic situation from the play, which is the organization of a village party. The actors play on an almost empty, improvised stage (director Andraš Urban is also the scenographer). The technical support is modest, but still sufficient for a show played in these specific conditions - the audience sits on the grass and on what they brought from home - blankets, camping chairs, small ligeshtuli, improvised benches made of two stumps and one board... Nocturnal insects swarm around the floodlights, cattle can be heard from the surrounding farms. Actors play outdoors and have to hold the audience's attention. That's why the play doesn't last long, the actors speak loudly (louder than they would in a closed space) and play quickly. That fast rhythm is constant and therefore monotonous at times. The director was probably aware of this and that is why there is a lot of singing and dancing in the play in a way that is quite suitable for the style of the folk performance and the spirit of the play (composer Arpad Serda, choreographer Maron Jaramazović). The acting ensemble is energetic, uniform and very young, but the actors successfully play characters of different ages (mentor AUNS professor Cornelia Goli). It is difficult, even unfair, to single out anyone (Daniel Tot, Daniel Husta, Lila Greguš, Nikoleta Grgić, Oliver Mihok, Žolt Mendrei, Endre Gustonj, Armand Bickei, Nora Pašćik, Evelin Nagy, Kata Kovac Nemeš and Sandor Botond Keri), because this play is much more the result of collective work (and shared life) than the average plays in the current repertoire. This is, after all, a characteristic of the acting classes at the Study Program of Acting in the Hungarian Language at AUNS. They work very hard and dedicatedly during the school year. During the summer, many of them play in the traveling troupe of the Salaški Theater, which was founded by their professors to bring the theater closer to every countryman, and to enable young actors to try different theater forms.
photo: promo...
While watching the play, it is undoubtedly very important to the actors, and that cannot leave us indifferent and uninterested. Their playfulness and gaiety is also transmitted to us in the audience. The audience is supportive, the evening is beautiful, warm and completely relaxed. We are witnessing a theatrical experience that we will hardly experience anywhere else (at least here in our country). The Salaško theater is such that it forces us to stay there, to be part of the theater community, to laugh and live. This is what we need this summer to understand that what is happening is part of a long journey in which each of us makes our own choices, whether we admit it to ourselves or not.
