The Stone premiere at Pesti Theatre

2021. 09. 19.

A house can be full of deep secrets, and for having different owners during the decades, the stories buried in the walls and the garden were inherited from family to family, from one generation to another. The drama The Stone of Ma­ri­us von Ma­yen­burg premiered on the 18^th of September at Pesti Theatre, staged by Mi­chal Dočekal, the director of the Prague City Theatres. The show is performed by Eszter Nagy-Kálózy, Csenge Szilágyi, Barbara Hegyi, Péter Telekes, Dorottya Antóci and Tünde majsai-Nyilas.

Through the secrets of one house, six people and three families The Stone confronts the audience with the questions and doubts of the 20^th century. The drama of Mayenburg is special, because the story of a family isn’t told in a chronological order, but we are travelling back and forth in time through 1935 and 1993, just as the memories arise in the head of the characters. 1935, 1945, 1953, 1978, 1993 – having mosaic peeks in the incidents, we can learn parallel the secrets of the present, past and future. “There are only very few dramas about our recent past. I have chosen this piece in the first place, because it deals with a 20^th century story in Central Europe. By this drama, through the unfold of the truth of the past we can come closer to the truth of our present.” – Mi­chal Dočekal, the director of the performance.

It’s 1993. Hei­drun (Csenge Szi­lá­gyi) returns to her birthplace in Dresden with her mother Wit­ha (Eszter Nagy-Ká­lózy) and her daughter Hanna (Dorottya An­tó­ci). She is hoping for starting a new life, but the moving and the house brings up the memories, the family secrets buried in the walls and the garden break surface. Strange persons – Mieze (Barbara Hegyi), Wolf­gang (Péter Te­le­kes), Ste­fa­nie (Tünde Maj­sai-Nyi­las) – arrive from the past, family legends pampered since a very long time come to nothing, and hurtful lies unfold.

The characters change time and costumes from scene to scene, meanwhile through their personal stories the history of the 20^th century condenses into 90 minutes. “In one moment I am 25 years old, in the other already 80, which is a difficult but grateful situation at the same time. Always the given scene defines the thinking, tone and presence of the character. When I am 80 years old, I exactly know what is the weight I am carrying through my whole life.”- tells Eszter Nagy-Ká­lózy, who plays Witha, the creator and keeper of the family secrets between 1935 and 1993 defining the life of generations.

The stone is a beautiful confession of family myths, love, betrayal and resumption. In the drama of Marius von Mayenburg the secrets emerge, helping us to understand our past, and even more, our present.

The stone trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWf5UK8wglM&t=3s 

Tickets and more: http://vigszinhaz.hu/english/repertoar/program.php?mid=8YaHANbi9c6JeHPdUJjJIf