Imitation of life

An executor arrives to evict a single woman from her Budapest flat, but an unexpected twist prevents him from carrying out his plan. Meanwhile, the pitiless fellow is forced to examine his own conscience, and it becomes clear that the derelict flat hides dark secrets which the new tenants must face...

Do we choose our fates, or are our lives predestined? The characters live an imitation of life; a life of ingrained habit far removed from the political situation of the moment. The performance is a side-note from a margin of society where injustice is the unwritten law.

The performance directed by Kornél Mundruczó breaks new ground for Proton Theatre.

"This theatre is a force of nature." (Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Switzerland)

"Imitation of life, a production by Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó and Proton Theatre, represents something not seen so far." (ART-19 - Bulgaria)

"Kornél Mundruczó’s hyper-realist masterpiece." (mottingers-meinung.at - Austria)

"Mundruczó delivers a riveting, outstanding docudrama, highlighting the strengths of naturalism without even for a moment coming off as dated or didactic." (totetartokoudouni.blogspot.com - Greece)

"Kornél Mundruczó, renowned Hungarian director of stage and film, surprises us with his performance entitled Imitation of life. Instead of the accustomed violence and provocation onstage, he offers quiet and intimate glimpses into the fates of individuals." (Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany)

"Mr. Mundruczó is a well-known and acclaimed figure in the worldwide directing community. (…) His work shows us where contemporary theatre is headed, or in which direction contemporary theatre should progress." (Lidové noviny - Czech Republic)

"Imitation of life: a political statement." (Eroica Fenice - Italy)

"Imitation of life: this production is more than just a simple message. It is a series of images and a collection of stories full of fragments of reality that turn into a complex symbol. Violence and power in politics and in private life. In Hungary and elsewhere. Art makes no sense. Art itself is the meaning." (Republik - Switzerland)

"The face as a battleground, the rented flat as a microscope, the stage as a magnifying glass – the theatrical art of Kornél Mundruczó, born in 1975, reflects out societal relations on a small scale, using sharp outlines. This makes Imitation of life a poetic and political event in one." (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany)

"In a time where establishing one’s identity is increasingly important, Mundruczó has crafted a theatre production that address these questions: Are we able to sever our family roots? Can we deny our background? Is it possible to create an identity tailored to suit us? Imitation of life presents a young man’s desperate attempts as he strives for a better life." (ORF.at - Austria)

"As a truly versatile creator, Kornél Mundruczó expresses his wide range of theatrical and cinematic knowledge through these raw and razor-sharp texts alongside video material both lyrical and trivial. In order to emphasize his message about those banished to a lower social class, he placed his characters in an appropriate setting, which however takes a 360° turn. He turns everything upside down to illustrate adequately the chaos of our world, which is incapable of renewal." (Magcentre - France)

"Mundruczó creates a powerful visual world and parable about a state where violence rules, treating outsiders as a sort of hazardous waste that is simply disposed of through a process of rationalization." (bz Basel - Switzerland)

"The performance skilfully combines spectacularity with reductionism." (oslobodjenje.ba - Bosnia and Herzegovina)

"The excellent set, designed by Márton Ágh, is convincing in every portion of the play. Its rotation, which gives rise to chaos and disorder, is a graphic metaphor for this restless and chaotic period, in which many of our lives are turned upside down when firm points of reference are lost." (european-cultural-news.com)

"This is the theatre of material and life’s game that moves one to tears." (ruhrbarone.de - Germany)

"The set is positioned higher than expected. It is as if we are following events from above, as if we are having a dream-like experience. We are there; near and yet also far. The grandeur of the scenes depicting every little detail, more real than real, help to suspend our doubts: beyond the door, we are sure, there is indeed a Budapest. (...) A brave portrayal, rich in metaphors and meta-suggestions, which strongly denounces racism, maintains faith in humanity and offers a true visual epiphany, which everyone can fill with their own experiences, their own stories of failure and recovery. The aim is to achieve a collective consciousness that unites humanity." (facciunsalto.it - Italy)

"It might be contradictory to talk about a spectacular drama, but that's exactly what was staged last night at the Teatro Bellini di Napoli. (...) This production of great scenic power is hyper-realistic: it turns upside down, it gets distorted, and creates both chaos and despair. The change of scenery leads to an “out of joint” state in the inner world of each of the characters. All this is closely linked to the protagonist's drama of how difficult it is to live with ethnic diversity within any society." (Informare Online - Italy)

"Lili Monori and Roland Rába bring their struggle for the flat to life. They are a captivating duo. (…) It is hyper-realism verging on satire." (Wiener Zeitung - Austria)

"The actors' performances are tight and measured, both theatrically and cinematically. The opening scene with Lili Monori's monologue is particularly strong. She relies on minimal facial expressions to convey her growing unease in her dialogue with her formidable partner, without using any banal facial expressions or conventional film acting gestures. The aesthetic reflection of the performance cannot be separated from the cultural context in which this play was written: it takes place in Hungary, where the nationalist right has ruled for more than a decade, and where the state has the power to control information and culture. Proton Theatre's cultural action is therefore needed more than elsewhere, because when it runs out of words, it reflects and expresses its views through poetic gestures. It is a double line of cultural resistance that provides space for reflection and observation, and which returns theatre to its most important – and perhaps most authentic – function within a civil society." (Teatro.it - Italy)

"Kornél Mundruczó and Budapest’s Proton Theatre have succeeded in creating a political zeitstück that is uncommonly dense and significant. After the lights go out, the audience sits for minutes in silence before rewarding the director, the spectacle and the actors with lengthy applause." (opernnetz.de - Germany)

"Kornél Mundruczó and his amazing group of five actors portray Kafkaesque situations in a rundown old building, where the setting is partly projected, partly onstage. (...) The audience rewards them with loud applause after this deep and dense evening of despair, violence and discrimination, taking place at the edge of European society." (Hamburger Abendblatt - Germany)

"The crowning event of the Sirenos Festival was a creation by Hungarian film and theatre director Kornél Mundruczó. Imitation of life, produced by the Proton Theatre, is a reserved but harsh study of the origins of brutality. The theme itself does not lie far from the director’s previous works, as his first films and plays deal with the same topic. (...) This barbarism, or human nature guided by dark instincts, is primarily manifest in the actors’ performances. The single difference – in comparison to his earlier work, where brutality was presented through the abuse of victims – is that now he poses the question: “Who awakens this barbarism in the human soul?" (Menų faktūra - Lithuania)

"The Teatro Bellini di Napoli always resists the trends when it presents unique and raw productions like this guest outing for its 2022 season: Imitation of life, directed by the wonderful Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó. In contrast to the idea of art inspired by pure hedonism, here we have one of the most extraordinary plays ever seen on the European stage. (...) It is a portrait of a tormented Hungarian society, a universal story of a world that is unjust and oppressive to the weakest, whose right to human dignity is emphasized by the director." (Napoli Click - Italy)

"The most effective theatrical enactment of this particular situation I have watched to date. I have never before watched a more effective commentary on the demolition of life and memory; the crushing of little objects that everybody is entitled to carry and keep, save for the homeless, the minorities, and all those persecuted on account of their race. Significantly enough, the young Hungarian director, with sensibility and ingenuity, captures the racism of everyday life, the various discriminations, the experience of living a life without any prospects." (artplay.gr - Greece)

"What does theatre-making in Hungary mean today? Beyond all rhetoric, it means resistance. (...) Making a political statement through poetry and performing it in the noblest sense of the word. To demonstrate the courage to tell the stories that the government does not want to communicate, either at home or abroad.
This is what Proton Theatre has done with its production of Imitation of life.
And that's what happened tonight at the Bellini." (Il Pickwick - Italy)

"In this kind of theatre, the audience redefines its own role in the auditorium. Spectators become part of such a performance that goes far beyond mere entertainment. A performance that, according to the intentions of Proton Theatre, draws attention to a kind of imitation of life." (Persinsala Teatro - Italy)