I got a surprise invite to go see a production at the Siraly on December 7th by the Kosztolanyi Dezso Theater.
The play, "The Hardcore Machine," was based on the Brecht poem, "Class Struggle is Not Dead." Having never read Brecht, and it being recommended by an aquaintance who liked it so much decided to come with us to see it again, I was looking forward to the performance. It was a very modern and physical play, with some very interesting choreography and staging ideas, but really, it was lost on my and I was falling asleep 15 minutes into it. The actors included; Mészáros Árpád, Mikes Imre Elek, Erdély Andrea, Béres Márta; and it was directed by Urbán András.

A couple days later, I finally saw Harold and Maude at the Budapest Kamara Szinhaz on Asboth u. near Madach ter. Harold and Maude is one of my all-time favourite films, starting Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon; with music by Cat Stevens, who came out of retirement to do the sound track While doing my thesis at Bates College, I gave myself a movie every time I finished a chapter. When I finished the entire thing, I took a six-pack into the library's private viewing room and watched harold and Maude. The performance was very good, and I might go back for a second time. This production much more modern version, and using very disimilar music, perhaps the most difficult thing to adjust to was the relative youth of the actress playing Maude and the relatively older version of Harold. Even so, all the actors were very good, in particular the performance of Dozsa Zoltan who played both the priest and psychiatrist. The set was simple, but done with some very interesting ideas.

Harold: Kolovratnik Krisztián
Maude: Vári Éva
Mrs. Chasen, Harold's mother: Szilágyi Zsuzsa
Psychiatrist & Priest:    Dózsa Zoltán
The Girls: Szőlőskei Timea
Police Officer: Kovács Ferenc
Director: Rácz Erzsébet

My only complaint is that the cast or crew were smoking away like chimneys off-stage and when the door opened (which it did frequently) a fog of smoke rolled in and made our eyes water. However, at the end of the play, I do not think there was a dry eye in the house, and it was not because of the smoke.