Re-enactment of societal activities in Hungary, with musical performances and recited political speeches that surround the absurd exploitation of acacia, an indigenous American tree that became a national and political symbol in Hungary.
Hungarian Acacia, Hungary. Directed by: Kristof Kelemen, Bence Gyorgy Palinkas. Performed by: Angela Eke, Katalin Homonnai, Kristof Kelemen, Marton Kristof, Bence Gyorgy Palinkas.
DUE TO TECHNICAL REASONS, THIS PERFORMANCE HAS BEEN CANCELED
The acacia, an indigenous American tree appropriated as a national symbol in Hungary, has become a subject of contemporary debates concerning politicians’ branding of the tree and distortion of environmental facts. The absurd exploitation of a plant for political means drove Kristof Kelemen and Bence Gyorgy Palinkas to launch a movement aimed at rebranding the acacia into a symbol of an inclusive society. Planting events took place at nationally significant locations in order to promote liberal ideals of a community.
Hungarian Acacia received the Critics Prize at the Theatre Festival Szeged, Hungary (2018).
Hungarian Acacia will be also featured at the Jersey City Theater Center on June 22.
The performance is followed by a talkback.
Free and open to the public. Online registration through Eventbrite is required. Wearing of a face mask inside the venue is required.
The 2022 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival s is dedicated to the people of Ukraine fighting for their independence. 🇺🇦 Suggested donation ($10) will be used to support Ukrainian refugees. All collected funds will be donated to People in Need, a Czech non-governmental, non-profit organization with over 20 years of experience in helping people in emergencies all over the world.
Project partners: Trafo House of Contemporary Arts, FUGE Productions – Independently Together, Workshop Foundation Budapest, Ministry of Human Capacities, National Cultural Fund, Juranyi Incubator House.
ABOUT
KRISTOF KELEMEN is a playwright, theater director and dramaturge exploring issues related to public discourse and factors of the status quo. He primarily focuses on documentary theater. His works have received numerous awards, such as the Contemporary Hungarian Play Prize of Zsuzsa Radnoti’s foundation for Observers (2018), while his While You Are Reading This Title We Are Talking About You (2016) was nominated for the Prize of Theatre Critics Guild. Kelemen’s portfolio includes a site-specific performance with blind participants, Hotel Love (2014, director: Zsuzsanna Simanyi); an interactive theater game about corruption, Talent Development with Wine Tasting (2019); The Savage Detectives (2021) that Kelemen wrote and directed based on Roberto Bolano’s cult novel at the Radnoti Miklos Theatre, Budapest where he is currently based.
BENCE GYORGY PALINKAS works on collaborative art projects, holds experimental classes in public education, and creates pieces of postdramatic theater. He is a doctoral student at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest. He was a guest researcher at the Slade School of Fine Art – UCL, London and at the Center for East European Studies at the University of Warsaw.
PERFORMERS
ANGELA EKE is an actor, puppeteer, performance artist and theater maker, one of the most versatile artists of her generation. She graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Arts (2013) and has been a sought-after artist in theaters and independent companies alike while she is considered a pioneer of contemporary puppet and visual theatre. She was once described as "the link between the worlds of classical Russian drama and show business, which are so far apart.” She has toured internationally. In 2013 she received the Most Promising Newcomer Award in Belgium for her first solo performance. Social awareness is in the focus of her own projects, such as a classroom theatre education program. Currently, she is working in Tesla/Radnoti, Szkene, Trafo and the Troyka Theatre Company. She is an advocate for animal rights and environmental protection.
KATALIN HOMONNAI is an actor and puppeteer. She works in theater and film, dubs movies and is a radio play actor. She has been a member of Studio K Theater, one of Hungary's pioneering independent theaters since 1994. Her performances with the company have won the Theater Critics' Award several times. She is the climate ambassador of Studio K. Homonnai has made films with Miklos Jancso, Kornel Mundruczo and Szabolcs Hajdu, among others. She was the Hungarian voice of Oscar-winning Hilary Swank in Boys Don't Cry.
MARTON KRISTOF volunteers in intermedia art, creating performative sound and video installations alongside ritualistic music. He is a co-founder of the 12z – improvisers collective which released several albums including a vinyl on the New York-based Other People label. He also participated in building a network of the Budapest-based underground art archive, Artpool. In the past years, he has dived into the research for future metamaterials and mindset of mutual aid and altruism
ABOUT THE 2022 REHEARSAL FOR TRUTH THEATER FESTIVAL
The 2022 Rehearsal for Truth Theater Festival: Under Pressure is organized by the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation and the Bohemian Benevolent and Literary Association in partnership with the Polish Cultural Institute New York, GOH Productions, Czech National Trust, Terezin Music Foundation, Trap Door Theatre, and Yara Arts Group.
The festival is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Consulate General of the Czech Republic in New York, Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Ministry of Human Capacities, Hungary, and Society for the History of Czechoslovak Jews.