Directed by Tamás Ascher

Sydney Festival welcomes one of Europe’s finest acting ensembles, Budapest’s Katona József Theatre, in their acclaimed production of Chekhov’s early masterpiece. Ivanov is Chekhov’s first performed work and tells the tale of a once idealistic landowner who has lost all interest in life.

With consummate skill, director Tamás Ascher, one of Europe’s most respected interpreters of Chekhov’s work, has uprooted the play from its usual setting amongst the fading Russian bourgeoisie, and planted it firmly within Hungary’s ascendant peasant classes of the 1960s. The terrible malaise overtaking Ivanov mirrors the inertia enveloping Hungary’s intellectual class following the crushing 1956 revolution.

Ascher’s deeply sympathetic production performs a dizzying balancing act between the hopelessness of the protagonist’s mid-life crisis and the unexpected hilarity of the dreary Soviet provincialism of 1960s Hungary.

Winner of numerous awards, this remarkable acting ensemble works together like an orchestra, beautifully delivering an unsettling and poetic performance about human failing and the unfathomable vanity of an apathetic man incapable of love.

Performed in Hungarian with English surtitles.

Contains nudity and gunshots.

Latecomers may not be admitted into the performance. Please allow plenty of time to arrive before the performance commences.

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WHAT THE PRESS SAID

“This production by Katona Jozsef Theatre in Budapest was billed as one of the highlights of the Sydney Festival…nearly flawless acting, superb comic timing and outstanding direction.” – Drum Media – 3 February

“This Hungarian take on Ivanov breathes life, colour and vitality into a 120-year-old play.” – The Daily Telegraph – 27 January

“…a masterstroke of creative invention…more” – The Sydney Morning Herald – 20 January

"It took apart the traditional approach to Chekhov. It was comic, it was farcical, there were moments where a character would be bursting out laughing, having fits of coughing - it was all the time pushing towards the absurd and ridiculous, and just about holding together as a more serious piece ... more" - Irish Theatre Magazine

"Acting of this force cuts through the language barrier." - The Guardian

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COMMENTS

Leslie Kovacs 22/12/08

Try to see it.

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Larisa Sarkadi 22/12/08

Try to come, this is an exceptional theatre. You`ll have no language problems, there are large English language screens at the sides. Ildiko

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vianne 18/01/09

This is a marvellous and compelling company! The director, Tamás Ascher, says about this play: "I am mostly interested in human relationships in Chekhov's plays, more precisely, the network of human relationships... But I did not want to reject the atmosphere either, moreover, I was trying to create a performance with very strong atmosphere, which is, however, has nothing to do with the traditional, nostalgic Chekhovian atmosphere that we are used to. My Ivanov is played in a cold, depressing world, very familiar to us... A typical scene of the 60s and 70s. This scene has nothing to do with the scenes of the original play, however, it perfectly describes the "inner" scene, Ivanov's soul, the essence of his existence... Ivanov is in a perspectiveless, depressive situation, in which There is hardly any other great Chekhov play which he profoundly analyzes his state of mind (unlike the other characters), and in each moment he wants to understand what is happening to him. And at the same time he does not recognize of anything ruining around him... Chechov saw the world and all situations with a certain black humour, even if the most important characteristic of the protagonist is self-pity. I think that the performance cannot aim at the enlargement of this self-pity, but on the contrary, it should show this self-pity in a sarcastic way." More inform. about the play and theatre: http://www.szinhaz.hu/index.php?id=740

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Loretta Csanyi 18/01/09

I am so excited to see this! What an amazing opportunity to see a Hungarian play in Sydney! :)

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Anita 20/01/09

..and what an amazing opportunity to see Nagy Ervin!Huhu!

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kitballou 24/01/09

brilliant brilliant brilliant.

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Budapest 25/01/09

Do not hesitate to see it. Katona is the best theatre in Hungary. Brilliant actors, director and performance.

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Anett 11/02/09

...perfect...it was absolutely amazing. Thanks, Katona Jozsef Szinhaz.

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