Chekhov Premiere in the Studio

Szigligeti Company presents the drama Platonov by Anton Chekhov, directed by Bálint Botos, on Friday, 11 November, at 8 pm. The first play by Chekhov, written at 18-19 years of age, is put to the stage in the translation by Annamária Radnai.

Actor-director Bálint Botos, born in Salonta, is at his first collaboration with Szigligeti Company. About the way he chose the text, director has said the following in an interview: “My fellow director Cristian Juncu has once said that when choosing a play, all you have at first is an intuition. The largest part of the work is finding out where this intuition comes from. What made you fall in love with the text? This time was a little diferent because Chekhov is an old love of mine. To me, he is the only one who is able to manage very profound human experiences, pains, angers and fears without the smile ever disappearing from his face. I am personally connected to some of the themes that appear in this text. One of the reasons I felt that it was worth working with was that I am looking at this piece not only from an external, analytical point of view, but searching for places where this personal perspective can play a role.”

The show presents the complicated love story of a village teacher, Platonov, while making a harsh commentary about society, is put to the stage by a young team. The music has been composed by Magor Bocsárdi, frontman of sZempöl, composer of a number of award-winning stage productions, whereas the set and costume designs are the work of Blanka Alíz Bajkó, winner of Best Costume at the Theatre Critics Award.

The show features 13 actors of Szigligeti Company as well as one guest artist: Gajai Ágnes, Hunyadi István, Trabalka Cecília, Balogh Attila, Fodor Réka, Dobos Imre, Szotyori József, Pitz Melinda, Kardos M. Róbert, Sebestyén Hunor, ifj. Kovács Levente, Bodnár Attila st., Szabó Eduárd, Csatlós Lóránt.

Tickets for the first performance are available at the theatre’s booking office (open Monday to Friday 2pm - 7pm, as well as one hour before the start of our shows), or online, at www.biletmaster.ro. Platonov will be played for the second time at 22 November, at 7 pm, at Szigligeti Studio, during our event titled Showcase.