Northern Theatre Harag György Company

Now, a joint festival called Reflekt is taking place in Satu Mare, as part of which press conferences were held on Monday in the newly built rooftop conference room of the Ács Alajos Studio building.

At the meeting, project manager Pinte Mirela welcomed the audience, and then the guests from Ukraine had their say: the deputy mayor of Uzhhorod, Ivan Zavydniak, local councillor Vasyl Pynzenyk and theatre director Rudolf Dzurinets spoke about the joys and the difficulties. The project was difficult to implement, firstly because of the coronavirus pandemic, and then because the Russian-Ukrainian war made it impossible to implement for some moments. The Ukrainian speakers also expressed their hope that this would not be the end of the cooperation, but that the joint work could continue either with a joint festival organised in a mirror, or with mutual invitations to directors and actors, or with co-productions.
On behalf of the Satu Mare Mayor's Office, the press conference was attended by Deputy Mayor Adelin Ghiarfas, who also represented the local government in Uzhhorod. He spoke about the boundless power of culture, the importance of transmitting values and the results achieved.

Stier Péter , General Director of the Northern Theatre Satu Mare, pointed out that the need to renovate the Ács Alajos Studio was already expressed in 2017. In the project, several things have been implemented: new dressing rooms, showers, new offices have been built or renovated, and a meeting room and additional offices have been created in the building's roof space. The new premises will be reoccupied on Tuesday by the theatre's management and administrative staff.

Ovidiu Caita, artistic director of the Mihai Raicu Company, spoke about the ongoing Reflekt festival. The series of performances began with the Harag György Company's production of Chaos, and on Monday afternoon the audience was treated to Chirikli, a performance following the fate of a Roma woman from Berehovo. On Tuesday, the company from Uzhhorod will also perform Otvetka, and the festival will close on Wednesday with the Mihai Raicu Company's production of Eternal Return.

Bessenyei Gedő István , artistic director of the Harag György Company, spoke about Ács Alajos as a real symbol of good communication between ethnic groups. The renowned actor and director, a perpetual member of the company and a Medal of the Hungarian Republic, was born in Brăila between the two world wars and was joint director of the two-tier institution after the establishment of the Northern Theatre Satu Mare. He pointed out that communication could now become a three-pole process, with the Ukrainian line now also in the picture, in addition to the Romanian and Hungarian poles. Afterwards, the company director showed the Transcarpathian guests around the theatre's venues.