Premiere: 11 October 2024
Csokonai Theatre
If reporter-turned-playwright Michael Frayn hadn’t almost fallen asleep back in 1982, at a theater performance directed by one of his friends, the world would have one less hilarious comedy. This was when Frayn realized: how thrilling the theater could be from behind the scenes than from the front, conceiving the idea of writing a play that takes the audience behind the courtains. Namely, in the first act, after a disastrous main rehearsal of a production going on a country tour – during which not only the actors but also the director collapses – the second act offers the audience a peek behind the curtains during the final stop of the tour, witnessing the scandalous details from the back. At this point, not only the professional problems come to light, but also the personal anomalies of the characters, highlighting how an artist’s unsettled soul can impact their evening performance.
The popular comedy was adapted to film in 1992, and has been played continuously ever since on stages both in Hungary and around the world.
Director: Illés Horváth
