I arrived to the “Shed” full of expectations and in awe about the new design and atmosphere of Katona József Theatre, as I had not been there for years. I was happy to realise that the theatre had changed a lot, and the new design now serves the brilliance of actors and actresses performing on the three stages of the theatre.

As a good pupil on his first day in school I decided to sit in the front row (as seats were occupied by the order of arrivals), an act that finally turned out to be a great decision. Sometime in the middle of the performance we were invited with a fellow viewer from the audience to hold two fans for Marlene while she dresses herself, right before she pulled me close and covered our heads with one of the fans.

That was inevitably the peak of the show (though not because of my performance and not of the fact that Marlene was naked, but) as at the time she was happy, at least she was trying to be. From this point on she starts rolling deep hitting the rock bottom.

The play itself is well-directed and the script is well-written. The music matches the happenings on the stage perfectly. Still I believe Éva Magyar’s acting is immaculate and wonderful and that is what makes the whole play brilliant. For not a single moment during the performance had I the feeling that what I was watching was pure acting.

The feelings on the stage were real, justified by tears and craving for empathy. In my theory, and I might be wrong, what makes someone a real performer if they can cry in a sense that I, the viewer, believe that they are suffering. This happened to me last evening. I felt sorry for Marlene and felt the urge to help and free her from her sufferings at any cost.

I have always been a great fan of Katona József Theatre and this time, again, I was not disappointed by what I saw. The performance is heavy, moving and makes you think about what you just saw. The success of the play is well described by the single fact of the need for extra chairs because so many viewers arrived.

The “Shed” was packed full with people.

On your way moving on the only thing I can say is “Goodbye Marlene and take care! I hope you will be doing all right and I promise I will never let anyone know whether we shared a kiss behind your red fan.”

Words by Christian Keszthelyi for XpatLoop.com