“More than once I’ve struggled with the dilemma of how Gypsy I actually am as a half-Gypsy, whether I really have enough connection to all this… These are my memories, my own lived experiences, but I think that if there is one thing that truly applies to all Roma people, it’s that we all know what it’s like to live as someone excluded…”
(Kristóf Horváth)
Kristóf Horváth, known to many simply as “Actor Bob,” examines the social and personal workings of shame in his stand-up performance, structured around memory and the processing of memory. He raises the question of how much individual memories belong to the self, and how much they belong to the collective memory of the Roma community.
In his Berlin performance Talking Human, which can be seen as a precursor to this piece, Kristóf explored the relationship to his Roma identity that he learned from his mother; in the present performance, he expands this further through the tools of stand-up comedy.
Kristóf Horváth is a writer and actor. He was a member of the Bárka Theatre and Maladype Theatre, a two-time national Slam Poetry champion, and the founder of the Tudás Hatalom (Knowledge Is Power) group. He regularly conducts unconventional literature classes in rural schools, and within the international Expect Art program he creates forum-theatre productions with students (based on compulsory school curricula) using a critical-pedagogy approach. He is the writer of Gypsy-Hungarian, nominated for the Péter Halász Award, and a lead actor in the 2022 film Three Thousand Numbered Pieces, inspired by that production.
The Stand Up Roma call for proposals, launched in cooperation between Trafó and Independent Theatre Hungary, aims to give space to storytelling from a Roma perspective and to create opportunities for new productions in which creators with Roma ancestry hold decision-making roles. The winning projects — by Rudolf Forgács, Csaba Gerner and Kristóf Horváth — approach the question of self-representation from different perspectives and experiences.
The slogan of the call refers, on the one hand, to the genre of “stand-up,” which uses (self-deprecating) humor and irony to expose dominant stereotypes and speak candidly about current social processes; on the other hand, it also invokes the meaning used more in activist contexts, testing the possibilities of collective solidarity and advocacy.
„A humor segít az érzékeny témákhoz nyúlni. Kicsit, mint felvágni egy gennyező sebet.”
A Független Színház Magyarország és a Trafó Kortárs Művészetek Háza közös nyílt pályázatán megszülettek az eredmények: három új előadó-művészeti projekt kap támogatást, amelyek a roma önreprezentáció és a humor kapcsolatát vizsgálják a stand-up műfajának eszközeivel.
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Creative Europe |
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Független Színház Magyarország |
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Stages |
A békés cigány–magyar együttélés kihagyhatatlan feltétele, hogy megismerjük a másik kultúráját, szokásait. Alighanem a művészet a legjobb módszer ehhez. A Független Színház Magyarország és a Trafó Kortárs Művészetek Háza közös nyílt pályázatán három új, a roma önreprezentáció és a humor kapcsolatát vizsgáló előadói-művészi projekt részesült támogatásban.