- The tragicomic life of Samuel Finkelbaum -

Co-production between Csokonai National Theatre Debrecen and Maladype Theatre in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust

Translator: Zsófia Rideg
Director: Zoltán Balázs

The author Gilles Ségal, who was born in Romania and lived and worked in France, exclaimed when he finished his drama The puppetmaster: "I wanted to write something light." Compared to this, his work has become anything but light-hearted writing: his protagonist, five years after World War II, the world-famous puppeteer Samuel Finkelbaum, a Birkenau refugee living in divided Berlin, does not believe that the war is over and that he no longer has to hide, despite many people trying to convince him. Thus, he lives his days locked up in a boarding house with the doll of his wife and never-born child who was lost in the concentration camp, and prepares for the great performance of his life, which is entitled: The Tragicomic Life of Samuel Finkelbaum.

The alternative reality of the puppet protagonist is thus framed on the one hand by a classic theater-within-the-theatre solution, and on the other hand by the arrival of a friend whom Finkelbaum might still be able to believe: the war is over. Or not? It can be seen from the direction of Zoltán Balázs.

Cast:
Finkelbaum: Máté Gergely Kiss
Ruchele: Ruth Nache Lopez / Elise Paris Turco
Proprietress: Kinga Újhelyi
Popov/Spencer/Weissfeld/Doctor/Schwarzkopf: János Mercs

Creators:
Director: Zoltán Balázs
Dramaturg: Zsuzsanna Juraszek
Set designer: Zoltán Balázs
Costume designer: Anikó Németh
Composer/Music director: Adrián Kovács
Motion sculptor: Zoltán Balázs
Assistant of director: Erika Ozoroczki
Creative producer: Sylvia Huszár
Production manager: Katalin Balázs

Opening Night: 10 January 2025, Csokonai National Theatre Debrecen, Árpád Kóti Hall
Running time: 90 minutes