1. Where was your play presentation done and when? Can you please tell us how was your experience in the frame of the project?
It was in the spring of 2014 in Heidelberg, Germany, where I met two other writers: Riccardo Spagnulo from Italy and Marilia Samper from Spain. It was good to change experiences with writers from different cultures and also to see the theatre and actors in the beautiful town of Heidelberg.
2. Write a couple of sentences about the feedback you received from the audience.
I think the audience resonated well with the play. By their reactions one could tell that they were interested in what they saw.
3. What were your major benefits from this experience?
It is always fascinating to see how contemporary theatre is made in other countries. So it was good to talk about theatrical experiences with my fellow playwrights from Italy and Spain. Besides, when you hear your play performed in a different language than yours, it makes you think about language itself. Is a different language capable of transmitting the same ideas? A playwright writes words to be said (or whispered) out loudly, but do they have the same power, the same effect when they sound completely different because they are said in a different language? So, the major benefit for me – besides meeting interesting new people, like the playwrights and the organizers – was that I found out how my play works in German, in front of a German audience. It works differently than in Hungarian, but it works.
4. During the presentation or other activities (workshops, conferences etc) you probably interacted with other auhors/directors/actors/managers. Did any personal project emerge out of this interaction?
No.
5. Were there any follow-ups to your presentation?
No.
6. Please make some suggestions for the improvement of such events in the future.
This was good as it was. But I think it would be great to have a program in which playwrights and actors participate together in a translation process. The translator could make a first draft before meeting the others, then work for a week or so together with the playwright, the actors and the director who at the end of the translation would direct from the final draft the reading in front of an audience.
