On Saturday, October 17, at 7:00 pm, the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj will present Károly Szakonyi’s comedy Dead Souls — based on the novel by N. V. Gogol and directed by István K. Szabó — in the theater’s Main Hall. This marks the director’s third collaboration with the Cluj company; after Sweet Anna and Pornocracy, he is now taking Gogol’s classic to the stage.

István K. Szabó, the director of the production, summed up the play’s relevance as follows: “By now, we’ve actually reached the point where we’ve all been caught up in a ‘Chichikov fever,’ and in a sense, we all exist as Chichikovs. It would be difficult to find someone who isn’t trying in some way to outsmart the system or, for example, to find a way to pay less in taxes. Society has evolved to such an extent that we are practically living in a ‘Chichikov society.’”

Miklós Bács, the actor playing the lead role of Chichikov, spoke about the challenges of shaping the character, noting: “I think István is right in saying that we live in a world where there’s a bit of Chichikov in all of us, and we have to live with that in some way — we have to come to terms with it somehow. At the same time, Chichikov is almost a ‘gentle little angel’ compared to those around him. That’s what I tried to show in the role: to somehow save my little swindler. For Chichikov is not a devil, not some extraordinary villain, but simply a swindler. Perhaps this is precisely where one of the character’s greatest strengths lies: we are not faced with a hero who excels in any way, but with an utterly mediocre man. And this is particularly interesting to me today. We live in a world where we claim that everything is brilliant, everyone is extraordinarily talented, and everything works perfectly. Sometimes it might be worth accepting that mediocrity, too, has its own dignity. What is truly outstanding is, by necessity, rare. Chichikov is the hero of this mediocrity: an ordinary, simple swindler. However, if one tries to truly understand him, one begins to feel sorry for him, and perhaps we will even be able to love this Chichikov.”

István Bessenyei-Gedő, the production’s dramaturg, also pointed out that: “István emphasized from the very beginning that he was particularly interested in the story’s metaphysical and transcendent aspects, which are also deeply rooted in the world of superstition. From this perspective, we had to determine very precisely how far we should ‘dust off’ the play and how far we should update it. The text, after all, has a certain aesthetic self-containment that, in my opinion, should not be disrupted too much. Interestingly, it is precisely this metaphysical approach that also allows us to address social issues. Behind the lines, deep within the abundance of humor and comedy, lies a very serious question that brings to mind Brecht’s famous question: which is the greater sin, robbing a bank or founding one? We have our own Chichikov, who trades in dead people, while he is surrounded by a world that regards even living people as commodities, almost as meat. If we add this layer to the story, I believe we arrive at a much more fruitful interpretation. However, this does not necessarily have to be “translated” directly for the audience: it is far more important that the performance create the possibility for this thought to arise within them.”

Miklós Bács portrays the lead role of Chichikov, with additional roles played by Róbert M. Kardos, Júlia Laczó, Szabolcs Balla, Attila Orbán, Csilla Albert, Andrea Kali, Áron Dimény, Tamás Kiss, Alpár Fogarasi, József Bíró, Emőke Kató, Hannah Daradics, András Buzási, Zsuzsa Tőtszegi, Zsolt Bogdán, Réka Csutak, Balázs Bodolai, Róbert Laczkó Vass, Anikó Pethő, Norbert Kovács, Hunor Fazakas, Eszter Román, Ervin Szűcs, Gizella Kicsid, Csaba Marosán, Loránd Farkas, Zsolt Gedő, Melinda Kántor, Andrea Vindis, and Gergő Biró.

The creative team was also made up of set designer Gyopár Bocskai, costume designer Imelda Jeremias Bianca, composer Tibor Cári, assistant director Orsolya Csengeri, and stage manager Enikő Albert.

Tickets for the premiere of Dead Souls are already sold out; tickets for subsequent performances can be purchased at the theatre’s box office (weekdays from 10 am to 2 pm) and online at huntheater.biletmaster.ro.