It is Chekhov’s play from his young age – as it is said – almost all of its lines can be found in his later, more mature plays, as all big constructions of words, it cannot be dealt without a definite “interpretation” by the director. Zoltán Balázs and Júdit Góczán cut the great amount of dialogues not by bones, however by “muscles”. That way as a tight cradle of cat, the story works from scenes to scenes as the well-known game of „putting off”. We can meet Platonov as the teacher in the village, who has started to fall down, but before he was young educated man, who wanted more, who did not refuse anybody’s desire, who admired beauty, goodness, youth. There are four men and four women around him, they “attract and disgust each other”, they are unknotting the tangles of games of power and feelings.

All the games, which are in the play (chess, card and so on) and all the playing are condensed around a billiard table. Everything and everybody appear there, the cue and the chalk mark the momentary stage of the game. A mouth organ can be heard as the pouring of the wine, and the playing table shining in pearly yellowish colour in the darkness of the room theatre can become a bed, fence, and the bare ground itself too later on. The “pushing” of the light, colourful balls (János Csere Apáczai used this word to express the movement of the planets) can rhyme back and forth to the movements of bodies, which are hit back and forth in the space. Judit Kovács Ligeti, Kamilla Fátyol, Vica Kerekes and Erika Tankó are the female characters of the story, they are circling around as moons that cannot get away of the attraction of the central star, of Ákos Orosz’ Sun, which will collapse finally, around Platonov, who rivals with the men, and keeps everybody in hateful excitement. Zsolt Páll’s face, who performs the rejected merchant is unforgettable, Ádám Tompa is sensual, he is charming and devilish at the same time, the young doctor by Zoltán Lendváczky is exciting and fallible, he is the cheated husband. Zénó Faragó performs the troublemaker cosmopolitan, who is formed by the connection of roles, makes us remember a figure by Dostoevsky.

The fine spider net of the billiard game, which forces almost continuous improvisation, always remains there, moreover, it can work, it is similar to a secondary happening under the net of the real happenings. The turning points of the play peak in composition of statues, which are composed strongly and freely, and can be walked around, it grows up here and there in the space, which can be walked around of all of its four sides. These forms, made of human bodies, are so plastic, as Robin would work into the director’s dynamic space-formation practice, who designed the movements.

It is worth and very necessary to take care of all impulses. The twenty minutes before the closure can be ten too, anyway – in the three hours long version, which I saw – this passionate performance, which is very artistic, full of sheer power can be followed all through it.

I do not think that we should take, those youngsters to this performance, who has never been there, however it can be tried too. For the students of the artistic schools, above the age of 15 I would definitely recommend the watching of the performance. They can find something to learn.

Katalin Gabnai, Mindenki Színháza, 2011

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)