If you’re still not 100% convinced that Budapest is the festival city, here’s proof positive of the Magyar capital’s ultimate festive vibe. October brings ten days of escapism into the world of contemporary art, within the framework of the Budapest Autumn Festival. By now, the festival’s become considered as one of Europe’s leading contemporary art events. It aims to reinforce Budapest’s cultural standing in Europe and its image as an important European cultural hub, by inviting internationally acclaimed productions of all branches of new art. Expect music, dance, theater, films and exhibitions galore. Here’s the FUNZINE selection of what not to miss.
Zebra Crossing Theater
“All the world’s a stage”, but who’d have thought zebra crossings could be too? Think a series of skits and sketches and 100% entertainment addressing serious social issues over the space of around an hour, comprised of 50-60 tiny acts. Join an audience of motorists and pedestrians.
Dates: October 9-10 at 4 p.m.
Free
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The Artus takes a famous Hokusai anecdote as the starting point for this premiere production. The performance, with movements drawn from the gestures of paintings as well as the Chinese Shen Dao stick exercises, explores basic, creative questions: when do we feel something we’ve created is finished? What is the compulsion to constantly qualify, criticise and judge ourselves? And who is the audience?
Date: October 15-16 at 8 p.m.
Muziektheater Transparant
This Flemish company experiments with various forms of musical theatre, balancing somewhere upon the borders of music and drama. Their 2007 production is based upon genuine events and people who voluntarily became Nazis in 1940s’ Holland. The piece, directed by Josse De Pauw, aims not to pass judgement, but highlights the fact that most of the Nazi horrors of the Second World War were not the work of the devil but ordinary people.
October 16 at 9 p.m. (in English with Hungarian subtitles)
Tickets: 2,500 HUF