Tamás Gajdó (PhD),

Hungarian operetta on the open air stage of Szeged

The Hungarian operetta appeared on the stage of the newly revived Szeged Open-Air Festival in 1959. János vitéz (John the Hero), the musical drama written by Pográcz Kacsóh was directed by Miklós Szinetár. It was staged by three different directors three more times until 1978.

Another musical drama, Csínom Palkó by Ferenc Farkas, was chosen in 1960 to be performed in front of huge audiences attracted by the Szeged Open-Air Festival probably because it incorporated the events of the War of Independence led by Rákóczi, which was considered to be part of the progressive tradition in Hungarian history. The Hungarian operetta classics were staged only after 1989, the operettas by Imre Kármán and Ferenc Lehár have been on ever since from then on In recent years a formidable workshop of staging and acting operetta has been created by directors Enikő Eszenyi or Róbert Alföldi in Szeged.