10th International Theater Olympics already happening in Budapest
Report to an Academy by Zero Point Theater. Photo via szinhaz.org
Hungary became the center stage of world theater as the 10th International Theater Olympics kicked off in Budapest. The 3 months-long event features 7500 artists from 58 countries and a total of 750 performances Hungary-wide.
The 10th International Theater Olympics
The 2023 International Theatre Olympics is organized in Hungary between April 1 and July 1, or as the slogan of the organizer states "From Easter to Midsummer’s Eve".
The event series will host performances by some of the world’s leading theatre artists, including Theodoros Terzopulos, Suzuki Tadashi, Romeo Castellucci, Krytian Lupa, Slava Polunyin, Heiner Goebbels, Silviu Purcărete, Eugenio Barba, Tiago Rodrigues, and many others.
While numerous programs will be on show at the participating locations countrywide, the main events of the Olympics will take place during the 9th Madách International Theatre Meeting, MITEM, at the National Theatre of Budapest.
The official opening of the 10th Theater Olympics will take place on April 15 from 2 p.m. until the evening hours, with a number of special programs at several locations. Highlights of the opening will be the Átmentem circus art production by László Simet Jr., who will cross the Danube balancing on a rope over the river, as well as domestic and international street theater performances, and a surprise concert.
Stelzen Art – Flying Traveler. Photo via mitem.hu
History and concept
The Theater Olympics is overseen by a non-profit organization of the same name, headquartered in Athens, Greece, and Toga, Japan. The organization promotes theatrical exchange and encourages dialogue between different theater makers - irrespective of ideological, cultural, and language differences. The organization’s work culminates in the Theater Olympics, an international multicultural, multidisciplinary theatre festival, which aims to embrace different theatre traditions, respect diverse cultures, and encourage intercultural networking among theater artists around the world.
The international committee had its first official meeting in 1994, and the first Olympics was held in 1995 in Greece. The founding committee consisted of eight internationally renowned theatre directors: Theodoros Terzopoulos, Nuria Espert, Antunes Filho, Tony Harrison, Yuri Lyubimov, Heiner Müller, Tadashi Suzuki, and Robert Wilson. Theatre Olympics are held infrequently, in various locations around the globe, and each festival is organized around a broad theme.
MITEM and Theater Olympics in Hungary
MITEM, the Madách International Theatre Meeting, Hungary’s largest international theatre festival, launched in 2014 at the National Theater of Budapest. MITEM is aimed to serve as an artistic meeting place where representatives of different cultures and theatre aesthetics can present their work and connect with each other. According to the organizers, the success of MITEM led the international committee to entrust the National Theatre and director Attila Vidnyánszky with the organization of the 2023 Theater Olympics.
The Hungarian organizers of the Theatre Olympics only function as coordinators and resource providers, sharing their international experience and contacts with the participating venues. Curatorial tasks were delegated to the Hungarian participating theatres, festivals, and trade organizations that joined the Olympics. They decided who to invite and what kind of festival to organize.
Oh! My Life Movement Theater, South Korea. Photo via szinhaz.org
Focus of the 10th Theater Olympics
The focus of the 2023 Theater Olympics is on Imre Madách, one of the greatest Hungarian dramatists, born 200 years ago in 1823. Hence, the slogan of the Olympics - “O Man, strive on, strive on, have faith; and trust!” - was chosen from his major work, The Tragedy of Man, which premiered 140 years ago, and is a masterpiece often compared to Goethe’s Faust.
As a central theme, the work of Madách will be featured in conferences, and book launches, as well as in a large joint production where theatre school teams from all over the world will perform excerpts from The Tragedy of Man.
Locations and accompanying events
Main Olympic sites include the National Theater of Budapest, home of the Madách International Theatre Meeting, the National Theatre of Miskolc, celebrating its 200th anniversary, the city of Debrecen, organizer of a contemporary Hungarian theatre festival, and the National Theater of Győr, among others.
While the main performances will be held in Budapest at the MITEM, the organizers aimed to make numerous programs accessible in areas outside of the capital too. Several local and regional theatres, puppet theatres, and dance companies take part in the event series with festivals and performances.
Accompanying events include ABSTRACT, the 1st Budapest International Contemporary Puppet Festival, Café de la Danse Festival in Kápolnásnyék, and the 2nd Karakulit International Shadow Theatre Festival in Pécs, amongst others.
Photo via karakulit.hu
Theater Olympics in Szeged
The first Theater Olympics program in Szeged will be the Paper Cut, Yaël Rasooly's award-winning performance in English, during a spectacular event at the Kövér Béla Puppet Theater. The audience is asked to arrive dressed in 1920’ and 30’ style and the event will be accompanied by wine tasting and an exhibition of 8mm cine-projectors. The event takes place on April 14.
YAËL RASOOLY TO PERFORM AWARD-WINNING SHOW PAPER CUT IN SZEGED
On April 14 at Kövér Béla Puppet Theater
Szegedi Pinceszínház will host two performances. The first one, Veronika Decides to Die, based on Paolo Coelho’s novel of the same name, will be performed on May 12 and 14 by the Yerevan Musical Comedy State Theatre. The performance will be in Russian, with Hungarian subtitles. Híd Cultural Foundation from Zenta, Serbia, comes with the play titled War of Independence, which will be performed in Hungarian on June 15-16.
MM Contemporary Dance Company from Italy performs Ballad, a 2-act performance consisting of ELEGIA_CARE LANDSCAPES by Enrico Morelli, and BALLAD by Mauro Bigonzetti. The show will take place at the National Theater of Szeged on May 18.
