Dialog Festival

Leonce and Lena

author: George Büchner, set and costume design: Judit Gombár, music: Kornél Mogyoró, dramaturgy: Judit Góczán, assistant director: Mirella Mátrai, producer: Balázs Erős, premiere: May 2008

cast: Zénó Faragó, Ákos Orosz, Zoltán Lendváczky, Zsolt Páll, Ádám Tompa, Kamilla Fátyol, Judit Ligeti Kovács, Erika Tankó

 

“Watching Maladype’s production, we forget all our previous experiences of either reading or seeing the piece on stage. We forget whether we knew anything about it or whether we are just getting to know this story. We are getting into the very centre of human circuits.”

MGP

Leonce and Lena is sometimes referred to as satirical political comedy. Its plot is banal and predictable: a young prince, Leonce, leaves home, because he does not intend to yield to the will of his father, who wants to marry him off to a princess from a neighbouring kingdom. Just as displeased with the idea of marriage is Princess Lena. She, too, escapes from her palace. As perverse fate would have it, the young people meet and fall madly in love without knowing they were intended to be married anyway. The twists and turns of the royal’s couple love life are mirrored in the story of their servants: Valerio and the Governess.

The Maladype actors invite the audience to join them in a theatrical game. During the rehearsals, led by their imagination and creativity, the actors experimented with the various possibilities offered by the text and the play’s protagonists. Thus they produced four variations of each scene of the comedy. In total, this means over one hundred different versions! They differ in their cast, acting style and even language. The choice of scene for a performance depends to a large extent on the audience, who can intervene and choose the way in which the plot will develop.

“The Maladype company led by Zoltán Balázs has been experimenting with a new, organic theatrical language for a long time. Building on Büchner’s story, they are reaching new heights in creating this language. The visual impressions are homogeneous: intense body-play – between pure sensuality and pure philosophy. This performance is also an example that the constant search for shapes and the creation of new languages can establish not only an intellectual cohesion but also a community.” 

Dezső Kovács, Criticai Lapok

The Maladype Theatre, founded and led by Zoltan Balázs since 2002, has become one of the most highly regarded independent theatres in Hungary. The word “maladype” in the language of the Hungarian Lovari Roma means “meetings”. It is no surprise, therefore, that from the very beginning the theatre has been open to multiculturalism, ethnicity and experiments with new languages of expression. The company has developed a unique style based on an extraordinarily intense stage presence of the actors and their direct contact with the audience. Maladype’s performances are, on the one hand, polished to perfection and on the other – open to improvisation, depending on the audience’s condition on a given day.