The creative master of the stage, director Viktor Bodó is returning to Varna for the second time, now with his production of The Tempest, created with the Hungarian-speaking Tamási Áron Theatre from Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania. Born in Hungary and winner of the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities (Union des Théâtres de l’Europe) in 2016, Bodó has been working regularly in German-speaking countries in recent years. Sándor B. Nagy spoke with him right after the premiere of ‘The Tempest’ in December 2024. The production, awarded with major prizes in Romania, opens the international programme of the festival on 6th June.
You’ve been working mostly in Germany lately. Why did you accept this invitation to Sfântu Gheorghe?
On the one hand, I have fond memories of Transylvania. After college, I directed a performance at the Târgu Mureș Theatre — it was my first job abroad, and I felt very good there. The actors supported the production with great love and an outstanding work ethic. I also have positive memories of the Tamási Áron Theatre; we performed at a festival here in the early 2000s, and the audience received the shows very warmly. So when Bocsárdi invited me, I immediately said yes. After that, we spent a long time planning the timing, the size of the team, the play itself, and so on. I also had a three-day meeting with the company in spring 2024, which was another very good experience. I felt it would work well.
Yes, I work a lot in Germany and other countries, but I don’t often direct in Hungarian outside of Hungary, so this job felt particularly exciting. The other reason I accepted was that I wanted calmer, more intimate, and more in-depth creative work than what I usually experience in big-city theatres, where there is constant pressure and a rather cold atmosphere.
Why did you choose to stage The Tempest?
I very rarely come across a play like this. As soon as I started reading it, I could already see the cast in my mind, and I felt very strong emotions. I immediately thought: this is what we need to stage with these people. Compared to my previous work, a more poetic kind of theatre felt like the right next step. The text offers so much to explore. Earlier, Péter Závada and I created various Shakespeare adaptations at the Örkény István Theatre, where we tried to update the text. Although the stories became more accessible to young people, I always felt we lost something in the process. In striving for clarity and directness, the dramaturgical structure was compromised, along with the complexity of the original.
This play, in Ádám Nádasdy’s translation, felt completely right — it challenges the mind just as much as a person can handle. I also knew I didn’t want a large built set. Instead, I wanted to create different images together with the production designer. This approach suits The Tempest perfectly, as the story takes place on an island, which lends itself to this kind of simplicity.
What makes you decide whether a built set is necessary or not? Does it depend on the space?
It depends more on budget and energy. You always have to consider how much attention and time you can devote to something during the preparation process. A built set needs to be planned well in advance, plans must be submitted, and it brings many constraints. Without a set, I can still change my mind three times before the first run-through about how to stage a scene, what aesthetic it should have, and how the actors should use the space.
I missed this freedom, because my previous production had a huge set with many small details. I tend to create such large-scale designs when working in big German theatres, which have serious technical capabilities. Even a major Hungarian theatre often cannot produce the kind of massive visual elements and props we sometimes dream up. There’s perhaps a bit of megalomania in us — when we get the chance, we go all out. The last time we did that was in Hamburg. Here, I wanted something much simpler.
How was the rehearsal process? I heard that health problems made the work difficult and there were some very tough moments.
These things happen in theatre. This production was perhaps more difficult than average. It almost felt like it was part of the play’s magic… This company works extremely well — with focus, humility, humor, love, and creativity. The rehearsals were going smoothly until both László Mátray and I faced health issues. Mine was physical — my arm suddenly swelled up. His was psychological. An actor’s life is incredibly demanding: mental, spiritual, and physical strain all at once. Yet the actor knows that in this context, their own life is secondary — the play and the performance come first. In this case, however, life and health had to take precedence. We felt the whole production was in danger, so I immediately spoke with the theatre management. They stood by us with great attention, responsibility, and care.
At the end we found a solution and made some changes in the cast. At that point, we had very little time left until the premiere, and I was worried the actors wouldn’t be able to learn that much text and perform in their new roles. But within just a few days, it became clear it would work. Then my own illness struck. I had felt for a while that something was wrong with my elbow but tried to ignore it, because resolving the casting change was more important. Eventually, I ended up in the hospital, where I was reminded once again how fragile this whole profession is. During COVID, I realized for the first time that all the work we invest can fall apart at any moment… The doctors told me I had a serious infection that required surgery, but of course I didn’t go ahead with it on the eve of the premiere.
What memories do you have of this production?
I have good memories of the everyday work. I felt real strength in this company. We worked well together, even though crises like this always test people and the whole community. It’s interesting to see what such situations bring out in individuals. This company reacted beautifully — everyone stayed sane and focused. A crisis can easily lead to chaos and collapse, but here everyone put personal fears aside and searched for the best solutions. There was even a strange serenity and lightness to it all, which surprised me given the circumstances. We all felt we had something precious in our hands that we didn’t want to let go of. The Tempest is a difficult but magical play, full of wonder — one of Shakespeare’s most special works. I still keep finding sentences in it that feel like they could have been written today…
Do you always work with the same design team?
No, this time it was partly a new team. I work regularly with the composer and the dramaturge, and we’ve completed several major projects with the media designer as well. I’ve worked with the lighting designer a few times before, but this was my first collaboration with both the set designer and the costume designer.
How would you recommend the performance to audiences? What should they pay attention to?
It has both depth and humor, and we put a lot of energy into making the visuals strong. I think it’s worth coming just for the storm scene, but everything that follows is also remarkable. This production truly contains our hearts and souls.
Watch ‘The Tempest’ on 6 June, 20:15h, Drama Theatre – Second Stage.
The interview was initially published on www.3szek.ro. Go to the original text: here