Mini-Season Ends with an Awards Ceremony

The 2021 mini-season of Szigligeti Theatre in Oradea ended with the traditional awards gala on the 12th of September. During the mini-season, the audience could watch or rewatch the performances presented in the season of 2020-2021.

The gala began with the presentation of the Lajos Őze award, founded by the city of Gyula, and the Gyula Burgtheatre, which was handed out by the Burgtheatres director, dr. Tibor Elek, to Hunor Sebestyén, actor and title character of the Gyula-Oradea co-production of Hamlet.

This was followed by the Vilmos Varga award, handed out by Ildikó Kiss Törék, the widow of the legendary actor, to former Szigligeti company member Erzsébet Márton and young star Hunor Sebestyén.

During the evening, the companies also thanked their retiring colleagues for their years of hard work, these include puppeteers Judit Balogh, Katalin Birtalan and Hortenzia Meleg, prop master Henriette Úklaki-Horváth, and dresser Ildikó Bene.

The award for best volunteer was given to Kata Szakács and Gergő Oszacky-Butkay, while the Golden Ticket, reserved for the most loyal spectators, was gifted by the theatre to Erzsébet Bereczky. From this season on, the Backstage award will be named after the late lighting designer Botond Nosz, who tragically passed away earlier this year – the award was given to set designer Sándor Komáromi, based on the votes of company members. Based on online votes from the audience, Hunor Sebestyén will be taking the Viewer’s Choice award.

The nominations for the Prizes of Excellence has been decided by a Jury consisting of professionals, including Jászai-prize winning actress Judit Coma, director Péter Forgács, critic Hulber Maria, director László Vadász and director, actor, singer and presenter Péter Novák. The winners are:

Best child actor: Péter Boross

Best puppeteer: Tekla Benczi

Best contemporary dancer: Réka Barkóczi

Best folk dancer: Máté Drimba

Kati Földes award: Hunor Sebestyén

Best Actors: Tünde Tóth, Cecília Trabalka, Róbert M. Kardos, Hunor Sebestyén

The evening ended with the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was handed out to actor Géza Hajdú. Literary secretary Levente Árpád Bíró said this in his laudatio: „There’s no denying it: Géza Hajdu has officially become a part of the city’s history. Besides his Oradean roots, we must also remind ourselves that Géza Hajdu is one of the many theatre people, who actively contributed to the history of Twentieth century Transylvanian theatre – and strived to go even further beyond.”

Szigligeti Theatre would like to thank Szigligeti Foundation, HolnapUtán Cultural Association, Andy Trans and Borostyán Catering for the prize money handed with the awards.