Ambiguous Topicality

This monograph examines the Hungarian theatre between 1949 and
1989 and uses Philther as the method of writing theatre history. In line
with the Philther categories, the twelve performance analyses comprise
six units: the context of the performance in theatre culture; dramatic text
and dramaturgy; staging; acting; stage design and sound; the impact
and posterity. They focus on the beginning, middle and end of state
socialism through the productions of three different theatres. The first four
chapters examine shows of the Operetta Theatre in Budapest immediately
following the nationalization of cultural institutions. The next six chapters
deal with performances of the National Theatre during the consolidation
of the Kádár regime, and the last two chapters present productions of the
Katona József Theatre shortly before the regime change. They all address
the question of topicality, the adaptation of stories to contemporary
expectations, which often involved the emergence of ambiguity and the
involuntary shift of interpreting stage events in the light of the spectactors own situation.