Debrecen4U June 25, 2025

Debrecen theatre was a great success at this year’s national meeting

The Csokonai National Theatre won three awards at the 2025 National Theatre Meeting. In the performance “The Puppet Player” by Gilles Ségal, which was included in the competition program, the award for best supporting actress went to Mari Jászai Award-winning actress Kinga Újhelyi, while the award for best costume designer went to Anikó Németh. The Association of Rural Theatre Directors awarded scholarships to young, talented actors this year as well. Bence Pálóczi was among the 15 supported artists. It was also revealed at the award ceremony that the Csokonai National Theatre will host the National Theatre Meeting next season, in a year’s time.

For the second year in a row, the Csokonai National Theatre has been invited to the competition programme of the National Theatre Meeting. This year, the Debrecen company presented Gilles Ségal’s tragicomedy, “The Puppet Master.” The drama, co-produced with the Maladype Theatre and staged by the Jászai Mari Award-winning director Zoltán Balázs, takes place in 1950 and is about Samuel Finkelbaum, a refugee from Birkenau living in Berlin, a world-famous puppeteer who, despite many people’s attempts to convince him, does not believe that the war is over and that he no longer has to hide. Locked in a boarding house, he lives his daily life locked in a boarding house with his wife, who died in a concentration camp, and the puppet of his never-born child, and is preparing for the big performance of his life, entitled “The Tragicomic Life of Samuel Finkelbaum.” 

Mari Jászai Award-winning actress, Kinga Újhelyi who played the owner of the boarding house in the performance, was awarded the award for best actress. The performance also received the award for best costume, the award praising the work of Anikó Németh.

The scholarship of the Association of Rural Theatre Directors, which is available to young, talented actors, was also received by actor Bence Pálóczi.

At this year’s National Theatre Meeting, it was also revealed that in a year’s time, the National Theatre Meeting will be hosted by the Csokonai National Theatre.

“The awards are excellent confirmations of the high-quality professional work that takes place at the Csokonai National Theatre. Congratulations to the awardees. We will do everything to be worthy hosts of the National Theatre Meeting in the jubilee, 160th season,” Director of the Csokonai National Theatre, Szabolcs Mátyássy, said.

Gilles Ségal’s performance, “The Puppet Master,” can next be seen in Kisvárda at the 37th Kisvárda Festival of Hungarian Theatres on Saturday, June 28, from 5:30 p.m., but the play is also part of the Csokonai National Theatre’s next, 2025/26 season.

Source:dehir.hu |Photo credit:dehir.hu