The Symptoms - theatre, dance, depth, irony

Alibi - a ninety-minute interrogation with lots of music and dance

"You mean where have I been for the last 30 years? Here, I can clear myself. And I will clear you too, so that you can clear me later in return.
I am reflected, therefore I am. A hiatus wedged between two ditto marks."

The performance was included in the Hungarian program of the 2007 Budapest Contemporary Drama Festival. It received the Forgács Prize for "the best humorous moment" at the 2008 Deszka (Plank) Festival in Debrecen. It also appeared with success in Hradec Krávolé (CZ) as a member of the international field of the Festival Theatre Europeans Regions.

"Réka Szabó's latest production is a milestone on the road the artist has taken beginning with her piece entitled Chance. A former modern dancer herself - and originally a mathematician by trade - Szabó searches for a unique balance between theatre and dance. […] Alibi concerns itself with the drive, which sometimes turns into a compulsion, to take stock of one's life - to survey the road one has travelled so far. […] Ultimately, this urge of self-examination turns the work into a post-modern morality play of sorts, which unfolds a deeply ironic layer of the subject in a way true to the spirit of our age. Meanwhile it also manages to preserve a hint of the pathos and gravity of the genre it's alluding to. Owing to this intense sophistication and the splendid performances of the actors/dancers, Alibi becomes a work of great importance indeed."

(Edina Mátyás, Ellenfény,)

"The act captures intimacy, beauty, and anguish behind a plane of glass, spotlighting appearances, the ordinary and the banal, the cabaret-farce-revue genre, coarseness, and human experiments aimed at eradicating pride and self-respect. All the while, Szabó seems to encourage us, with an intelligent but gentle touch, to stare our own worst fears in the eye."

(Krisztina Horeczky, Népszabadság)

Performed by: István Gőz, László Kövesdi, Andrea Nagy, Márta Szabó, Anna Szandtner, Dániel Szász
Lights&Set: Attila Szirtes
Dramaturgy: Krisztián Peer
Music: Balázs Barna, Albert Márkos
Costume: Enikő Bodnár

Directed by: Réka Szabó

The performance was produced in collaboration with the Thália Theatre, Budapest, and with the creative participation of all performers.

Sponsored by: L1 Independent Dancers' Partnership, National Cultural Fund, Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture, Cultural Committee of the Budapest Mayor's Office, Marland Kft, www.szinhaz.hu, www.tancelet.hu
Media sponsor: Fidelio Súgó