Szeged National Theater to open new season with world premiere exploring migration
Photo: Szeged National Theater / Róbert Tari
The Szeged National Theater will kick off its 2025/26 season with the world premiere of The Seekers of Shelter (Oltalomkeresők), a contemporary play written and directed by Péter Fábián – as announced in a press release. Inspired by Aeschylus’s The Suppliants (Oltalomkeresők in Hungarian), the production reinterprets ancient themes of exile and asylum through the lens of Hungary’s 2015 migration crisis.
The performance – which will be presented in Hungarian – features both the theatre’s drama and opera divisions, bringing together a large cast shaped by powerful stories: interviews with volunteers, clergy, border patrol officers, and even someone who had served time for migrant smuggling. The result is a fictional narrative grounded in real-life experiences, reflecting the complex human dimensions of displacement.
“I intentionally selected interviewees with diverse perspectives,” said Fábián. “There were volunteer aid workers, a border guard, a church representative, a human rights advocate – and even someone who had been imprisoned for migrant smuggling. The production is fictional, but it’s built on authentic voices and experiences, filtered through my own imagination.”
“This piece challenges us to confront what it means to leave everything behind in search of safety and a new beginning,” said general director László Barnák during the production’s first table read – which also marked the final table read of the current season. The play premieres in October at Kisszínház.
