After a long wait, last night the Veres 1 Theater presented the online premiere of the Black Comedy play, directed by Sándor Nagy. I think a tearfully laughable, repeatedly watchful, funny yet instructive performance was born.
The story in a nutshell: Brindsley Miller, a starving sculptor, welcomes a wealthy art collector and his girlfriend’s father when a power outage caused by a short circuit reshapes everything. Unexpected guests and situations cause a lot of complications during the evening. The uniqueness of the piece is given by the different lighting conditions. So the first few minutes of the performance before the power outage take place on a completely dark stage, we can only hear the voices of the actors, but for them, according to the story, it’s clear then. At the moment of the short circuit, it will suddenly be bright on stage and we can see everything, but the characters are said to be in the dark from here on out. That way we can laugh a lot. The chatter-stumbling, mixing people and things in the “darkness” brings a series of comic moments. It was no small challenge for the actors to learn how to behave on a completely clear stage as if they saw nothing.
I really liked the piece. Already after the first 15 minutes, my tears flowed from the laughter and the smile could not be wiped off my face. Stumbling in the “darkness” created a lot of funny situations that couldn’t be endured without laughter. The sometimes vulgar, swearing text may seem strange, but in some situations it’s also funny. What Balázs Nagy did by rearranging the place was brilliant, and just as the others moved together like a great choreography. The facial expressions of András Csonka and József Kerekes are super, they could not have been seen so well in the theater, say from the back row. So that's why it's worth watching the recording. One of my favorites is the “transformation” of Enikő Zorgel. I think the phrase “I alliterated ba… meg” again will be mentioned by many more. A favorite scene is very difficult to highlight. I could list almost the entire play and all the characters. Everyone got into a funny situation galore. In addition to having a serious and profound aspect to the play, it is a real cloudless entertainment, during which everything else disappears and we can forget about the world outside the theater for a while.
They did the recording very well. I was especially pleased for him that the actors were listed at the beginning and all the contributors at the end. It all became like a good feature film. Since we haven’t seen this play live yet, so it’s not at all disturbing that we don’t hear other viewers laughing in the meantime, there’s not that certain sense of lack or emptiness that has been seen in plays that have run multiple live performances. I guess it wasn’t easy because of the virus so I ran a piece on stage for a long time and I’m sorry they couldn’t show it live now, but I think it can be enjoyed online as well. When the audience can finally see it live, the area will surely resound with laughter.
Cast: Brindsley Miller - Balázs Nagy, Carol Melkett - Edina Csáki, Miss Furnival - Enikő Zorgel, Colonel Melkett - József Kerekes - Harold Gorringe - András Csonka, Clea - Gyöngyi Molnár, Schuppanzigh - László Janik, George Bambergog - Krajnik-Krajnik
Help: Erika Csányi, Assistant director: Zsófia Kelemen, Set and costume designer: Yvette Alida Kovács
Director: Sándor Nagy
The photos are screenshots from the online premier with the permission of the Veres1Színház.