Balancing on the boundary between stand-up and monodrama, the performance features an actor giving acting lessons on how to build a character — while gradually realizing that every lesson is about himself. Behind every role lies the same question: is it possible to see ourselves as who we are, when the world constantly sees us as someone else?
The way the world looks at us continuously shapes who we are, what we think about ourselves — and we, in turn, shape the world through the way we look back at it. Bad guy explores this interaction, suggesting that identity is not a fixed or stable entity, but a process of constant re-learning.
The protagonist of the monodrama does not fit into any social category. Because of his skin color, he encounters ethnic prejudice; because of his shaved head, political labeling; because of his body type, distance and suspicion. His appearance has led others to decide who he is throughout his life, long before he ever had the chance to speak. On stage, he reclaims control of the narrative — and this time, he tells us who we are.
The new work by playwright Edina Tallér and actor Csaba Gerner examines how everyday yet structurally repeated forms of micro-discrimination shape a person’s life — from being followed in shops and subjected to “routine checks,” through experiences in medical settings, to rejection in the workplace.
Bad guy is a fiction rooted in personal experience, a theatrical game and a human mirror. It searches for the possibility of distinguishing prejudice from experience, and asks whether we are capable of connecting to one another — and to ourselves — without prejudice.
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.
Edina Tallér is a writer whose work focuses primarily on people’s inner worlds and life situations, while responding sensitively to social issues. She often gives voice to those living on the margins of society: abused women, Roma communities, people living in poverty, children, and people struggling with mental health issues. Her plays have been staged at venues including DANTE Community and Creative Space, RS9 Theatre, Kettőspont Theatre, and the Jókai Theatre in Békéscsaba. She regularly leads writing workshops, offering free participation for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. She is a founding member of Másik Műhely, a literary and theatrical community space in Budapest.
Csaba Gerner is a freelance actor and director, and a performer and director at DANTE Community and Creative Space. Together with Edina Tallér, he is a founding member of Másik Műhely. He began his career at the Jókai Theatre in Békéscsaba, later working at the Vörösmarty Theatre, Játékszín, RS9 Theatre, and numerous independent companies. His artistic work frequently returns to themes of social exclusion, identity, and self-expression. He only became aware of his Roma heritage as an adult.
„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.