Kornél Mundruczó is a renowned European film-director, whose films premier at the most prestigious festivals all over the world. He won the Critics' Award in Cannes this year. He has been working for the stage for some years now, most notably with the Krétakör Theatre, but basically whenever he finds a topic, a group or a venue which inspires him. During the working process he tries to build a team and often ends up inviting some of the same actors, who become creative partners. it is with them that he devises the productions. He is not an official member of any theatre and mostly works by commission.

"The creator's pride: his creation is ambitious,
but the created work might be greater than the creative gesture itself."

The central issue in Frankenstein-project is what people, who are different, are allowed or not allowed to do in a world where we, the majority determine what being different means in respect of our daily interests, our social standing, our successes and our failures. The play shows us in a painful and particularly realistic way the mechanism which gives birth to our different aversions.

Normality has no meaning without aberrations. Therefore it produces its own demons, nightmares, monsters, and deviant figures so that it can determine itself in relation to something different. But once detached, normality is suddenly suprised and scandalized by its aberrations. It passes the sentence: "This no longer belongs to me. I won't take responsibility for this. It's out of my competence and my scale of values!" Then life is so arranged that you rarely have to meet these monsters, criminals, cripples and deviants because as soon as they are detached they become isolated on social and individual levels alike. Society locks up its personae non gratae in institutions, and the individual in its deepest subconscious.

"I think the essence of becoming imbued with fascism in a philosophical aspect is the mixture of envy and fear. My intention is for the audience to experience this process in a very realistic way. The purpose would be for the question to arise not on an intellectual level, since there we have all the correct answers ready. Instead, out of curiosity filled with surprise and through the denial of the monster, we should be able to confront the fact, that we are much rather the barmaids or container-dealers than the different, special individuals, the "other people."

Performed by: Lili Monori, Roland Rába, Kata Wéber, János Derzsi, Andrea Spolarics, Natasa Stork, Rudolf Frecska, Ágota Kiss

Set design, costume: Márton Ágh
Dramaturg: Viktória Petrányi
Casting: Mari Boros, János György
Assistant director: Zsófia Tüű
Production manager: Dóra Büki
Directed by: Kornél Mundruczó

Festival invitations 2008:
Festival Premiéres, Strasbourg, France
8th National Theatre Festival, Pécs, Hungary
New Plays from Europe, Wiesbaden, Germany
International Theatre Festival Divadelná Nitra, Nitra, Slovakia
La Ferme du Buisson, Scène nationale de Marne la Vallée, Paris, France

Awards:
Best Performance - 8th National Theatre Festival 2008, Pécs, Hungary
Best Actress: Lili Monori - 8th National Theatre Festival 2008, Pécs, Hungary
Audience Award - 8th National Theatre Festival 2008, Pécs, Hungary

Produced in collaboration with Bárka Theatre, Mobilbox Container Ltd.