Let’s admit it, all of us miss cultural life and even though we can slowly return to the theaters, there are still many factors which make the experience incomplete. If you’ve already finished your 50th book, watched all the good films, and, on top of that, would like to stay up to date on the latest in theater, online theater is the perfect choice. Moreover, by purchasing tickets you support the artist’s work!
In this article we gathered the latest performances by contemporary theaters:
Central Theater
Among many performances, the Central Theater offers classic performances online like Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare and The Seagull by Chekhov. For those who are craving contemporary performances, you can also watch AVérszipoly (Vampire on Hire) online, directed by Tamás Puskás written by István Philipp, from May 8th. In this story Kátya Tompos plays a stern countess who would like to find love in a vampire. Her husband therefore hires a fake vampire to pull one over on the countess, but in time a real vampire appears on the scene.
It is interesting that the rhyme drama was presented on the 100th birthday of the poet József Romhányi, of whom the director was a former student.
Hungarian State Opera House
On the Hungarian State Opera House webpage you can view the three-act opera Hoffmann’s Tales directed by Kriszta Székely.
The piece was written by Jules Barbier using the text of German-born writer E.T.A. Hoffman. The heart of the opera is the search for the female ideal and the main character is the writer who searches for fulfilling love in various muses.
The performance is in Hungarian, but Hungarian, English, and French subtitles are also available.
ESZINHAZ.HU
Finally, we can’t forget about the largest database: we can see numerous live or recorded performances at eszinhaz.hu . It’s possible to buy tickets for individual performances, which makes the webpage available for a limited amount of time, but we can also choose a monthly subscription and get unlimited access for a month.
Live performances offer many technical advantages for those who want to have fun:
among others a notification is sent two hours before the start of each performance and many camera angles can be selected during the show. You can also log in from different devices and even use it outside of Hungary.
However, there are several things you need to keep in mind during the online broadcasts: during live performances it’s not possible to pause the show, and continue from there, while with the recorded performances you can pause them whenever for a snack break and start from where you stopped. It’s not possible to download either type, because it would make it possible the prohibited distribution of recordings, and tickets are not refunded in the event of cancellation.
Such a splendor of contemporary plays is highly novel and we cannot fail to mention their diversity either.
Let’s take a look at a few available performances on offer:
We Are the Same
The author of the work is Noémi Szécsi and the director is Kriszta Székely. In the author’s own words:
“Do you feel tightness in your chest?
Do you always stand up, but sometimes don’t see the point and other times you don’t stand up and you feel ashamed?
Did you give birth as many times as you wanted? Two times more or one time less?
Do you sometimes feel old? But are you still doing well?
Are you on a diet? Or should one have at least that much joy?
Do you wake at dawn? Or are you still not asleep?
Neither Elza nor Em sleep that night, which leads from a forced company party to next-day family event that doesn’t promise much fun. Because of their thirty-year friendship, they are accustomed to torment each other and themselves while reluctantly confronting the ghosts of their past and present.
In an abbreviated version of the work adapted for streaming, the protagonists of the novel You Are the Same guide the viewer through five short scenes of a 24 hour story.”
The Sweet Soul
The play, directed by Zsófia Geréb, was written by slammer and literary historian Péter Závada. The plot of the work ranges from German romanticism up until World War II.
Whatever we choose from the selection, we deserve a pat on the back since we are not only having fun, but also supporting the efforts of artists and the survival of the theatrical world.
Translated by Amy Soto
