Performances / Szigligeti Company / 2025-2026

Géza Aczél

Waiting for Timur

premiere

Translated by::

The Szigligeti Company has embarked on a bold undertaking with the staging of Aczél Géza's "play". The term is in quotation marks because Waiting for Timur is not a drama in the traditional sense of the word: it is rather a text stream on the border between lyric and drama, which became a stage work based on the ideas of Demcsák Ottó.

Aczél Géza, poet, literary historian, and editor-in-chief of the Debrecen-based journal Alföld. Some of his poetry collections have received clear praise from literature lovers, colleagues and critics. A resigned tone characterises Aczél's late poetry. The sympathetic lyrical subject of his poems often looks back in time, but he does not cast objects, people, and situations in a nostalgic haze; instead, he evokes them in the spirit of the avant-garde tradition, drawing on its tools.

Demcsák Ottó is a dancer, choreographer, director, a lifelong member of the Győr Ballet, the recipient of numerous awards and honours, and was named Hungarian Dancer of the Year in 1989. In his artistic endeavours, the harmonious combination of different styles and the mystical choice of themes are strikingly present.

During the rehearsal process, the image of the performance underwent a radical transformation; the somewhat traditional dramaturgy and story were stripped away, and the texts, imagined as dialogue, became independent and adapted to the specific choreography, which was significantly influenced by the director's background as a ballet dancer. The musical material of the piece also offers an exceptional and unusual experience, not in itself but in the combination of Aczél Géza's text and the movement of the characters, which creates a kind of dissonance and at the same time helps understanding.

The performance is supported by the National Cultural Fund and the Katona József Production Application, as well as the Eurotrans Foundation.

Synopsis translated by: Vivien-Tamara Sárközi