Televised Theatre

Terrific news!

The Foundation for Hungarian Theatres has initiated a new program that records and preserves the best of Hungarian Theatre. Encouraging access to these recordings, the project allows these productions to reach remote sites and locations where the public has been so far deprived of the magic of theatre.

The project has been put on track in 2017, and the selection is made by an Advisory Board formed by theatre managers and theatre professionals of note. The recordings are made in HD quality, and in accordance with the laws for intellectual property and copyright, and are conducted by theatre directors of the calibre of István Márton and Tamás Zilahy.

The Hungarian Embassy in Washington, D.C., has purchased the distribution rights of several recordings and is putting them at the disposal of the Hungarian communities across North-America. At the moment, five shows are becoming available to the Hungarian community centres, with English subtitles and in high resolution, which we will present at the OHCC as part of out “Televised Theatre” series. We hope many will join us for the virtual tour of one of Budapest’s leading theatres, enjoying a sample of their work!

We owe a great deal of gratitude to the Foundation, its creators, and we thank the Washington and Ottawa embassies for initiating this program that nourishes the souls and rejuvenates our shared treasure, our native language. This endeavour cannot occur often enough since most of us – taking summer holidays in “the old country” – encounter significantly reduced levels of theatre activity during our visits. These virtual theatre soirées answer a real need and will be a perfect complement to the efforts of most community centres to host as many theatre productions on their stages as possible.

“If one steps into a capital (city) and would like that nation to reveal itself to his eyes, all he has to do is step into one of its theatres. Actors are guardians of the mothertongue, and the nation lives through its language. Should the nation foster a widely cared for network of playhouses, Transylvania would not be neglected by its performing geniuses.”

Historian László Kőváry, About Szeklerland (1842)

We second this implicit motion here, on the distant shores of the Big Waters, as well. Thanks again!