History – Performance – Memory: Richard III and the Subversion of Theatre in Hungary, 1955
Abstract
This paper looks at two Richard III production in Hungary, the latter of which has
since achieved legendary status. Put on just before the 1956-revolution it was often reinterpreted
as a revolutionary act, the best example of the early, spontaneous
subversion of Shakespeare’s plays in Hungary. However, the play was performed in
the first theatre of the nation, strictly controlled by central cultural authorities,
directed by one of the major figures of new Socialist propaganda theatre, Tamás
Major. Therefore the production raises fundamental questions about the nature of
subversion and Shakespeare’s role in it, as well as about the sources a theatre
historian can work with. These are the questions the paper wishes to answer by
tracking down the history of a Hungarian 1955-performance of Richard III.