Szabó Éda: Report on the performances Bánk Bán? Here! and Dragon’s Eye at the 14th HolnapUtán Festival

A magenta hat, a fanny pack, a cross-shaped earring, a handcuffed briefcase, a crown, a Joker mask, and a riding crop. No, this is not the scene from a guided tour through the props storage of the Szigligeti Theatre, but rather symbols representing the characters of the opening performance of the 2026 HolnapUtán Festival: Melinda, Biberach, Otto, Bánk bán, Andrew II, Petur bán, and Gertrudis. By now, many may have realized that this must be a production of Bánk bán… And indeed it is, but the Váróterem Projekt production entitled Bánk Bán? Here! revives Katona József’s classic through theatre-in-education methods within the framework of a classroom setting.

The performance focuses on the relationships between the characters and the power of paying attention to one another. As a result, the characters step out of their natural nineteenth-century environment, become people of the present day, and bring their own story to life using the possibilities offered by an average modern classroom. Thus, it may easily happen that Biberach tastes someone’s school snack, Petur bán pulls the chair right out from under a student, while Otto attempts to seduce Melinda with a glass of wine accompanied by the bittersweet melody of Someone Like You. And what makes the performance truly special? The audience becomes part of it as well! The students’ impressions determine the ending. If the chalk flies, Bánk is punished; if it stays put, he and his truth continue to live on.

What comes to your mind when you hear the word VISION? An eye? Bright, vivid colors? The song Láss, ne csak nézz!? Or perhaps speeding turbo snails, little hat-wearing people reading books, or witches cooking soup? The last three may sound like rather surprising associations, but someone did think of them. Namely, the second- and third-grade students who attended Dragon’s Eye, part of the CSIP program of the Csokonai National Theatre, presented as the second theatre-in-education production of the HolnapUtán Festival. Through Hajós Zsuzsanna’s pseudo-Sichuanese tale, and guided by Uncle Miklós taking his exam and Aunt Klára examining him — that is, Bolla Bence József and Madák Zsuzsanna — the children were able to confront their own dragons: their fears and problems.

Within the framework of a guided drama pedagogy workshop, through the story of Hongrun, an aspiring young painter, the students could speak playfully and without inhibition about questions that can sometimes burden even adults: what happens if it turns out that someone is not talented at something, how exam anxiety affects different people, who feels more inhibited than others, or what happens when the ending of a story is not a happy one? Do we continue imagining possible outcomes until we find our own truth? And what if we invented the ending together? Are we allowed to? Of course! In this way, no one is left with a sense of incompleteness by the end of the session, and it becomes clear to us why we look with our eyes, but see with our brains…

 

Szabó Éda - studentă în anul I la specializarea Teatrologie, Universitatea de Arte din Târgu Mureș