Pinter: DIEVOUSHKA

Bela Pinter and his theatre ensemble have been together since 1998, and thanks to the productions they have created together, today they have the status of one of the most successful and most exciting Hungarian theatre groups, which performs equally in Hungary as it does abroad. As an independent and especially innovative group they have in the last ten years of joint work won four awards from Hungarian critiques, their playing with Hungarian themes, and traumas, even with the well-known popular motives interpreted through the post-modern procedure and innovative use of musical techniques make this theatre especially original in its expression. Being an educated actor and dancer, music and movement hold an important place in Pinter's work. Before he founded his group that has for years been part of the Szkene Theatre at the University of Technology and economy in Budapest, in the eighties Pinter was at the head of a several experimental groups.

His "Young Girl" is a monochromatic musical piece for theatre – awarded at the Festspiel in Berlin – the best example of his theatrical work, a piece which combines elements of operetta and drama. It is also a unique scenic example how parody and humour can be used to talk about the most serious themes, even those that are taboos in the national history, like the role of Hungary in the Nazi conquest of Europe. Forced labour and the push of the German army and Hungarian collaborator through the Russian steppe is the thematic framework of this production which bravely engages into a real theatrical adventure. Using Puccini's melodramatic motives, as well as Hungarian musical hits from the war period, Bela Pinter created an extremely witty, and yet in an appalling way a bitter and painful play.