Musikdrama

It is the evening of 20th April 1942. A group of young Hungarian soldiers is facing deployment to the front. They look optimistically to the future, but during the leaving party, fanatical nationalism and private tragedies become apparent. »Roncsolt Kópia« (»Scratched Celluloid«) – played in Hungary under the title »Gyevushka« – touches on a dark side of Hungarian history: collaboration with Nazi Germany, anti-Semitism and participation in the 1942 Russia offensive, which ended in the death of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian soldiers.

The music by Benedek Darvas combines sounds of late romantic opera à la Puccini with film hits from the 20s to 40s. The mostly cheerful sounds contrast starkly with the radical nature of the topic. In montage technology, the scenes running in parallel are evocative of black and white films from the period before the Second World War. The content and production style of the piece have triggered vehement discussions in Hungary.

Béla Pintér, born in Budapest in 1970, is the biggest director on the Hungarian independent scene, alongside Árpád Schilling. This autodidact began his career at 17 as an actor with the Szkéné company, one of the first Hungarian off-theatres. In 1998, he founded his own company, for which he not only directs pieces but also writes himself. One of his most important works is »Parasztopera« (»Peasant Opera«), which was recognised in Hungary in 2003 as the best musical theatre production of the year.

»An hour-and-a-half charming evening which stands out for its free dealing with history. Playful seriousness reigns, with general Büchner style fatality« (Rüdiger Schaper, Der Tagesspiegel, Berlin, 23.11.2004).