In a fast way, one after another the newly formed Maladype Theatre has had their second Büchner premiere in spring. It is unnecessary to take it into consideration with too much importance: the two premieres next to one another can be some kind of coincidence too, as none of them can be called an interpretation of Büchner, and it is less probable that with the performance of Danton’s Death this series can become a trilogy.

There is no word of coincidence, as the leader of the troupe Zoltán Balázs has met Claudio Collovà thanks to Büchner. The Italian director has made a workshop to the members (who were then) of the troupe last autumn, and obviously he has made plans of the future performance then. All of it can prove that Büchner’s dramas can be very good material to a young troupe that is trying their wings and borders, who are thinking more about the theatrical forms than the text itself. Woyzeck as it is a fragmentary play can be a grateful material: they do not need to grab the whole of it; effective scenes can be built from the fragments too.

Collovà puts on stage four Woyzecks and four Marys. Eight actors form four couples sometimes they form smaller and bigger groups. The further texts of the other characters of drama are not left at all: some parts of it are told by the characters, but these situations can be understood as Woyzeck’s singing dialogue than normal dialogues (the performance reflects the feeling of schizophrenia by pictures too sometimes). However, the bigger part of the text is missing, and physical actions are put on their place. (Sometimes the language of our everyday life can give Büchner-like scales – mostly in an unsuccessful and unjustified way.) These physical actions bring up the feeling of déjà vu in the viewers. There are not any which have not been seen in similar performances; some of them (like the play with the female characters’ long hair or the emptying of the long bottles full of water) are frighteningly cliched. Apart from this, some ideas and pictures can be effective as the plates that are making noise have acoustic power as the placement of water bottles in the shape of fringes has visual power too. Some beautiful pictures are made, but most of the scenes are without any fantasy, powerless on their own, and they cannot be connected to one another easily. Sometimes happens that a visual idea that is fertile on its own is turned back successfully: the view of Mary’s red scarf that always falls down is beautiful and expressive; to replace the girl’s earring with this scarf later in the dialogue is absolutely unnecessary and meaningless too.

Above all the critic can hardly stop analysing this performance neither from the point of view of the contexts of other performance that used Woyzeck as a material, nor in comparison with the earlier performances of Maladype Theatre. If he does it, the comparison cannot be avoided. In the first case, the base of comparison can be the W by Krétakör Theatre which similarly transforming the drama into a strong physical theatre (or to avoid the chaos of terminologies, we can tell that: a theatre, which is built on physical actions). However, this comparison must incorrect – mostly because of the performers’ different intentions. In the second case Leonce and Lena can be the example; while there I have felt creative creativity and flowing inventions by actors, I can see the work by actors which is devoted, disciplined but cannot move the soul in the play. However, I think that the performance is a common work, that contains there too the actors’ ideas, thoughts, improvisations. The members of the troupe are the same too: Éva Bakos, Hermina Fátyol, Kamilla Fátyol, Zoltán Lendváczky, Ákos Orosz, Zsolt Páll, Katalin Simkó and Ádám Tompa move great energy again, their professional knowledge cannot be worn, their eyes are shining enthusiastically now – but all of it cannot form a new quality now.

The old and used ideas cannot bright in new light, the series of repeated (forced) actions cannot get special meaning, after a while it has become as boring as the forced tempo of the most of the scenes or the series of intentionally unarticulated words and actions. Besides originality and invention, maybe the shades and contrasts are missing mostly from the performance. I am convinced by the more layered ending scene, where Woyzeck’s death is counterpointed by the bittersweet music and the vision of smiling characters with closed eyes. Meanwhile it seems to be the ending of another performance, and not of these surprisingly ineffective premiere which was formed seeming with many works and great energy but from many old ideas it could not build a new form.

Balázs Urbán, Kultúra.hu, 2008

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)