Performances / Szigligeti Company / 2025-2026

Mihály Csokonai Vitéz

Widow Karnyóné

and the Two Scatterbrains

– strictly for audiences aged 14 and up! –

a saucy comedy in two parts, adapted by Vilmos Meleg

Translated by::

Csokonai Vitéz Mihály (1773–1805) wrote his most cheerful play when everything seemed lost for him; this coarsely magical farce triumphs over sadness and hopelessness with creative good humour. What’s more, it’s so modern that it feels closer to us than anything Hungarian literature could produce in the comedy genre in the following century. This restless modernity perhaps stems from the subtle, lyrical self-irony with which the poet infused the comedy of the old lady pining for love. A contemporary critic noticed that some of Karnyóné’s bitterly ridiculous tirades beautifully align with the despairing, happiness-craving lines of the last Lilla letters…

As unbelievable as it may sound, during the more than 200-year history of professional Hungarian theatre in Várad, Csokonai’s masterpiece has never been performed here before.

Synopsis translated by: Gellért Farkas.