The year of revival: the Szeged Open Air Festival will be organized in a special form
Programmes of the season 2014 have been announced Next year the greatest development in stage technique will be completed. The spectatos of Dóm Square can attend performances like ’Zorba’, ’The Czardas Queen’, ’Gone with the Wind’, ’Hary Janos’ and ’Mamma Mia’ in unique conditions. The press was informed about the changes and programmes on Tuesday by Herczeg Tamás director and Harangozó Gyula arts director.
At the beginning of September the Open Air Festival conducted a public competition to design its new communication image. The winner of this tender was Kőfaragó Gyula graphic artist, so the visual design of season 2014 was realized by his modern, minimalist plans. This creative image with some playful elements will promise the coherent image for many years.
New stage, new situation
However, the most momentous event in the story of the Open Air Festival is that the forthcoming season will be organized in special conditions. The auditorium will be turned away in 180 degrees, also the performances will be set on a completely new stage with a so-called rotating ring located in the area of the clock terrace right opposite the Votive Church. This change is due to the reconstruction of the church in 2014.
The director Herczeg Tamás emphasized that this change is a unique event in the story of the festival. On the one hand, during the last eighty-two years the spectators have never attended the performances in such conditions which is a particular rarity. He noted that even in the beginning, in the 1930s the idea had come up to perform on stage in different location. In 1994 it was one of the reasons for chosing the well-known mobile stand because it can be built in any positions. On the other hand, the greatest development in stage technique of the Open-Air Festival will have been completed by next summer which later will make continuance and tours of productions possible.
In this year’s poll the organizers were curious to know the potential reception and asked about this subject too. It turned out that the two thirds of the spectators welcome these changes. On the basis of the agreements in progress the management promises both well-organized technical and undisturbed artistic performances.
Programmes in the new season
The next season starts with a ballet-performance, Zorba, the Greek which can be seen on 4th and 5th July. The choreography to the music of Mikis Theodorakis, which became world-famous after the film had been rewarded with three Oscars, and also the libretto were elaborated by Harangozó Gyula, the arts director of the Szeged Open-Air Festival. One of the matters of curiosity of the performance in co-operation with the Ballet of Győr is that a compelling sight, never seen in Szeged so far, will welcome the spectators. Dmitrij Simkin, the stage designer visualised a complicated, geometric, almost cubist space which is made exciting by its multi-step structure, on the one hand, and by a special 3D-projection, on the other hand. This latter one is able to execute unbelievable visual effects, besides its scene-underlining function. The Zorba will be a real festival-performance where even the Szeged Folk Dance Group will take its part.
On 11th and 12th July the Czardas Queen, Kálmán Imre’s operetta-hit will be on stage which was last seen on Dóm Square about a decade ago. The performance will be carried out in co-operation with Budapest Operetta Theatre. There has been no performance on Dóm Square in this genre from the theatre of Nagymező Street for years the company of which is a popular guest in several countries as the „ambassador” of operetta. The production will be put on stage in an all-star cast, in a modern form, but holding respect for the rules of this genre, and finally, on a high level common to the Operetta Theatre. The story takes place in the first world war, and though it is not emphasized in general, this year’s concept somehow focuses on it on the occasion of the anniversary of the cataclysm.
The spectators sent countless letters to the management expressing their congratulations to a particular performance, also many others were curious to know if this year’s musical-hit would come back the following year. Thus, Gone with the Wind will be put on the bill again, on 18th, 19th and 20th July. There will be some changes in the cast but the Presgurvic-piece will be seen only for the sake of the performances in Szeged with a real festival-cast.
The season will continue with a much expected classical production from a Hungarian composer. It was fifteen years ago that the spectators of the Open-Air Festival had last the chance to see Háry János one of the compositions of Kodály Zoltán. The opera based on Hungarian folk songs tells the story of a boasting veteran and it was on the programme of the Festival in 1938 too. The emblematic performance will be put on stage on 1st and 2nd August in 2014. The Festival invited well-known artists of the genre for opera roles while popular actors for the prosaic ones.
The season’s sensation will be the super-production Mamma Mia in co-operation with Madách Theatre. The spectators can attend the performance on 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th and 20th August.
Megosztom
2013. October 30.
