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Botond Nagy - directorial debut at NTB with a terribly topical text by Matei Visniec
On the evening of March 25, 2023 will take place in the Studio Hall of NTB, in the presence of the author Matei Visniec, the premiere of the play The Word Progress On My Mother's Lips Doesn't Ring True, staged by director Botond Nagy, who is collaborating for the first time with the National Theatre from Bucharest, but not for the first time with this renowned playwright.
Inspired by the reality of the Bosnian war, this play, written in the early 2000s, is unfortunately still relevant after more than two decades. Critically acclaimed as one of Visniec's finest plays, a blend of drama and black comedy The Word Progress On My Mother's Lips Doesn't Ring True (published in 2007 Lansman Publishing House) has been staged several times, including by the Influenscènes Company, directed by Jean-Luc Paliès (press award in 2009 at the Avignon Festival - off section), or by the Trap Door Theatre Company from Chicago, directed by Istvan Szabo, presented a decade ago at the "Matei Visniec Days" Festival in Suceava.
The author himself is surprised by the impact of his text today, on the eve of this new premiere: "I didn't know 23 years ago that my play would remain relevant. Today I think of the mothers of the soldiers who died in Ukraine," says Matei Visniec. And I think with horror in particular of the mothers in Russia who are practically forbidden to express their grief at the loss of their sons. It is reported from credible sources that the Putin regime is allocating large sums of money to the families who have lost their sons on condition that they remain silent and do not voice any criticism of Russia's barbaric aggression against Ukraine. The issue of mothers who are unable to mourn, who are denied the right to bury their children according to ancestral customs and who are forbidden to cry in public remains tragically topical..."
A lasting drama, spiced with hints of dark humor, about broken or radically changed destinies, and above all, about the otherworldly, rapturous bond between a mother and her son...
” All our lives we try to search, find and bury within us those moments that contain our mother's care. To fit every puzzle in our lives, perhaps unconsciously under the shadow of her passing cloud. But even that is a game. We hide all our lives in the hope that the day will come when She will find us. And she'll stop the missiles in our neighborhood, shout out the window that it's late, that it's time for dinner. (…)
I want this performance to speak on behalf of all mothers and women who have ever suffered, either by losing their children, never being able to have them or abandoning them, but who still have the chance to see, as for the first time, through the eyes of their children. If only innocence were palpable, I wish we could feel it for just a moment through this performance. And if we're careful, maybe we'll notice it before we step on it again.”
In just a few years since his debut, young director Botond Nagy (a graduate of the University of Arts in Târgu-Mures, Bocsárdi László class) has already built a promising career.
Distinguished by a specific scenic universe, dominated by original technical solutions, with a modern audiovisual ambience, Botond Nagy's performances have been invited to prestigious festivals both at home and abroad, together with famous names such as Robert Wilson, Theodoros Terzopoulos, Oskaras Korsunovas, Pippo Delbono, Joseph Nadj and others.
His performance "Nora" by Ibsen (at the Hungarian State Theatre in Cluj) was nominated for the UNITER Awards (2020) for "Best Direction" and awarded the "Best Direction Prize of the Hungarian Ministry of Human Resources". Taking on the challenge that Matei Visniec's texts represent for any director, Botond Nagy has once again opted for this author on the occasion of his debut on the stage of the National Theatre.
Cast: Maia Morgenstern, Marius Bodochi, Lari Giorgescu, Aylin Cadir, Razvan Oprea, Ada Gales, Florin Calbajos, Ciprian Nicula, Mihai Calota, Silviu Mircescu, Cosmin Dominte.
Set design - Andreea Sandulescu. Original music & Sound design - Claudiu Urse. Stage movement - Botond Nagy. Playwriting - Agnes Kali. Light design - Cristian Niculescu.
The first performances will take place on March 25 (Premiere), March 26 and April 22, 2023, at 7.30 p.m. at the Studio Hall.
Tickets are available at the NTB Box Office and online at www.tnb.ro.
Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
