I saw Büchner's Leonce and Léna on the university theather festival, in the new surroundings: in the rehearsalroom of the National Theather of Pécs, that gives home to Janus University Theather and to the festival. They tried to furnish the new place like their own, they created that narrow black room space, which produces that locked feeling. So the busy, the narrow corridor's happenings, making the most of every space - to which we could get use at the university theather - were parts of the conception. The actors could solve the task well, there almost weren't any stoppage. Only the audience is turning it's head in flurry, because they wan't it to do so: once here, next there is some action.
It is a fortunate combination, that the text has a great stress in the performance. Most of the actors speak nice, they have time to tell their monologues, the not verbal communication works well between them. Duos are good (for example Valerio: András Domonyai is a characteristic companion). The scenes of Ferenc Köles, acts the title role, Leonce, are particulary fine, all of the playings are elaborated. From first to last the glance of Köles, which turns inside is fascinating.
It is thought-provoking, if it is worth in this way. The benchs, the headturning, the standpointchanging are not bad ideas, and not rare in the world of alternative theathers. In this way from necessity advantage can be made, but now discomfort is too much. The close airlessness, the tight space and the pleasing big audience are all hindering the headturning and enjoyment. But the audience could also suffer a bit for pleasure. We were thinking after the perfromance why the audience was so passiv. We arrived at the opinion that there were too little gestures and invitations for breaking the habitculture. Are the university students more free? We could rather expect them to be creative. And the professional audience? I think, the most of the audience not brave enough to stand up, if he/she can't see anything. It is decency and care: nobody wants an actor to run into him/her. Something misses for the audience to accept their situation as partners.
The actors are brave and sensitive, just like the directing of Eszter Anna Szilágyi. They show much from themselfs. They are dare to speak, they believe that the poetric sentences has stress so they can affect. (What we can't see, unless we can hear.) The propositions of the german idealism can succeed.
We can see well-solved scenes with good rythm, the set is functioned (Eszter Anna Szilágyi, Zsófia Herczig), the music of Kristóf Weber is sparkling and soft, and the choreograpy of Péter Varga is elementaristic.
The ending is really effective: the scene of embarrassing. When the pair, who have escaped from the pressured marriage and was forced back, recognize the wanted lover in each other. The free will and determinism meet, and through long minutes the pair is fidgetting, it is unkown who cheated them. They melt their situation in arrogance and beautyful lyric, and Leonce and Léna (Lilian Nagy) are able to dream again.

 

G. Büchner: Leonce and Léna
Director: Eszter Anna Szilágyi 

Cast:
Leonce: Ferenc Köles
Léna: Lilian Nagy
King Péter: NorbertÁcs
Valerio: AndrásDomonyai
Lotte: KingaVárnagy
Master of the court: Péter Vidéki
Rosetta: Krisztina Rosner 

Set, costume: Eszter Anna Szilágyi , Zsófia Herczig
Music: Kristóf Weber
Choreographer: Péter Varga
Painting: Silaro