Performances / Szigligeti Company / 2025-2026
Ákos Németh
Lovass Anita
play
Translated by::
The author was born in 1964 in Székesfehérvár and began writing plays at a young age. The theatre community quickly noticed his talent, and since 1990, his works have been continuously staged both in Hungary and in theatres abroad (including in Germany, France, Croatia, and England). Several of his works have been translated into English, German, Croatian, and Bulgarian. Radio and television plays have also been adapted from his dramas. The premiere of Lovass Anita was held in 1994 at the Radnóti Theatre in Budapest, and it has since been performed at the Szentgyörgyi István Academy of Drama in Vásárhely and the Csokonai Theatre in Debrecen.
In Németh Ákos’s play, snapshots of everyday characters’ lives unfold, revealing their desires and failures. Lovass Anita, a manicurist who dreams of becoming an opera singer, tries to break free from the mundane existence typical of the drama’s characters. However, her talent is questioned by everyone; she is left alone, and her environment—a world she wishes to escape—contributes significantly to her isolation.
The characters in the play are entangled in complex and shallow relationships. These grounded, self-centred figures are unable to understand or communicate with each other. Each character carries their past like a burden, and the future appears either as a hollow promise or an apocalyptic vision. A longing to escape from a helpless state is present in almost all characters, but they are unable to act, as if they are all dying and in their final moments, trying to cling to the nearest person. This applies most of all to Lovass Anita, who is repeatedly humiliated and ultimately rejected by everyone—her father, her friend, and her fiancé alike. Anita cannot count on anyone’s support, so despite her will, her latent talent, her desire to become someone else, and her wish to break free, all of it becomes impossible without a support system. The moment of truth shatters the world held together by selfishness, which Anita, driven by her longing for love, strives to rebuild in another way. She gradually realises that the false affection born of loneliness, the almost suffocating clinging, can only lead to the rejection of a sincere connection.
Synopsis translated by: Gellért Farkas
Cast of characters:
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Premier: 2007.04.28
