The cultural renewal based on traditions and opened to the values of other cultures is the most modern, the most advanced artistic attitude. All ethnic groups have a certain set of gestures, an alphabet, which naturally show differences from others. The leadership of the Csokonai Theatre in its ars poetica included the search for a universally valid "Hungarian theatre language."
Located at the Eastern part of Hungary, lying along the trading route between east and west, Debrecen has always taken an active role in the exchange of cultural values.
Its significance has been apparent to this day. Since the enlargement of the European Union, the traditional role of the city as a regional centre has been increasing.
Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel (directed by Silviu Purcărete)Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel (directed by Silviu Purcărete)Thanks to its geographical location it is an ideal place for the dialogues between cultures and for establishing relationships, co-productions in cultural sphere as Debrecen provides an outstanding place for the dialogues between cultures.
The 140-year-old Csokonai Színház in Debrecen has had four departments – as prose, opera, dance and orchestra. As such, in its traditions and the ongoing theatrical work, it has been closely connected to the Hungarian peasant-civic mentality which is proud of its independent frame of thinking, thanks to its relative economic wealth. It marks also a certain conservatism in taste, but at the same time an ability of renewal by exploring the sources of its heritage.
The first important playwright of the Modern Age, Csokonai Vitéz Mihály (1773–1805), after whom the theatre is named was not only born here, but he lived and wrote his works in this city. At the turn of the 18th–19th century he experienced in a highly dramatic way the social and stylistic changes; and for him, as well as for the artists of today, the future of theatre was not and is not just a mere aesthetic question. The most burning question in the uniting Europe is, whether the national being and taking responsibility for national culture can be harmonized with modernity. We are convinced that the ideals set forth in Hungary in the music of Bartók and Kodály are valid in theatre as well.
Fabulous Men With Wings (directed by Attila Vidnyánszky)Fabulous Men With Wings (directed by Attila Vidnyánszky)The cultural renewal based on traditions and opened to the values of other cultures is the most modern, the most advanced artistic attitude. All ethnic groups have a certain set of gestures, an alphabet, which naturally show differences from others. The leadership of the theatre in its ars poetica included the search for a universally valid "Hungarian theatre language."
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