Yesterday, a fantastic puppet show for adults was performed in Szeged. But the beginning of this story dates back much earlier.
There was an 8-year-old girl who listened to a recitation by Dániel Nizsai on a recording, on an internet channel. This inspired her to seek her own soul’s vibrations in poetry and to try her hand at composing verses. The breakthrough from her cocooned world and the act of showing herself happened at last year’s poetry festival, where the now 14-year-old girl returned home with a gold rating. She earned this rating with the poem “Jeromos, the Hermit Crab.” This was the same poem she had listened to years ago in the exceptional rendition of the performer. Then, at this year’s poetry festival in Kaposvár, an unexpected miracle occurred when Sasa accidentally brought together the master and his pupil.
Hanna Faragó, unsuspecting of the events, did not realize that she would be part of a huge encounter on Saturday night. The puppeteer who captivated us that evening was none other than Dániel Nizsai. Hanna was so overwhelmed that she even forgot to ask Dani for an autograph.
Fortunately, when all this became known to Sasa, she started organizing. It turned out that Dani would perform on the evening of March 25th at the Kövér Béla Puppet Theater in Szeged, as part of the “How Old is the Captain?” series of performances. Every Monday of the month, the puppet theater is visited by a crowd of adults who can watch performances tailored to them. In his show titled “The Puppeteer,” Dani attempted to showcase the most important milestones of the extremely rich life of puppet artist Henrik Kemény.
At the end of the performance, we not only enriched ourselves with a unique experience but also peeked behind the scenes, talked with Dani, asked about the piece, admired and held the puppets in our hands, and, of course, did not forget to have our program booklet signed.
I thank Sasa for making this evening unforgettable for Hanna.
Gyöngyi Novák, mentor
