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frogtales - Independent Theater Hungaryfrogtales
békamesék
The punk opera called Frogtales, sung with humour, presents the lives of three generations of a family through a frog metaphor. In Portugal, the ceramic frogs on display indicate where the Roma are undesirable. The ‘frog family’ in the play fights to break out of the ‘swamp’ assigned to them and wants to be accepted by the majority society. They fight and do a lot for social integration, they change from generation to generation, while the youngest member of the family succeeds, he becomes a star thanks to his musical studies.
‘I don’t have to fight my people anymore, my role as a parade frog will be to prove how beautiful and inclusive
the non-frog world is.’
Creators
trailer
Background
The play is based on Leonor Teles' experimental short film "A Batrach Ballad". In the artist's film, she smashes frog statues at the entrances of Portuguese shops, drawing attention to the discriminatory practice. These charming-looking frog sculptures are placed at the entrances of shops all over Portugal to keep Roma away. There are many stories of Roma being followed by security guards in shops and not being allowed into clubs. But the frogs, the ones who guard the majority, are rarely mentioned! Who are these frogs? In many cases, they are members of the Roma community themselves. Indeed, majority societies have always been keen to employ members of minorities to keep out or even regulate their own.
Focus scene
Reviews
‘Frogtales, written by Rodrigó Balogh and Márton Illés, is an allegorical tale, in which life situations and fates are also presented through several generations, determined by the Roma origin of the characters. (The metaphor of the frog comes from the fact that in Portugal, ceramic frogmen are placed in front of shops to indicate where Roma are not wanted.) The fact that they talk about frogs and not Gypsies throughout the performance – the frogs are the ones who receive the negative labels from their environment, the ones who are stereotyped – has a distancing and ironic effect. But the text and the play are also full of sometimes bitter, sometimes cutting irony and other times humorous moments. There is also the familiar fairy-tale motif of the prince turned frog. The play uses another metaphor: a brick wall, with inscriptions on each brick indicating the state and social institutions, concepts and relationships that affect human life. The characters are stuck on this wall for generations, until the youngest finally manages to break it down through his musical talent.'
SZíNHáZ‘Frogtales was presented at the OFF Biennale 2021, as the closing of the exhibition of Norbert Oláh. The perfromance was organized around Norbert Oláh's installation called ‘The Gypsy Artist's Anxiety’, the destruction of the wall occurring in the finale of the performance. In the performance, Norbert Oláh, who played the part of uncle Norbi, used a wall-breaking hammer to demolish the wall he had built himself. The remains of the wall remained in place until the end of the festival, only to be cleared away at the end of the festival.’
SZíNHáZMaterials to read
excerpts from the playphoto credits
All rights reserved
*left -> right*
1: ©Vivien Balogh_Máté A. Kovács
2: ©Vivien Balogh_Norbert Oláh
3: ©Vivien Balogh_István Babindák
4: ©Vivien Balogh_Dávid Varga
5: ©Vivien Balogh_Máté A. Kovács
6: ©Vivien Balogh_Orsolya Balogh
7: ©Vivien Balogh_Orsolya Blogh, István Babindák