Tamás Rojik’s youth novel Drought is the starting point of our project. The novel is set in 2050 and presents a dystopia focusing on global warming. The author projects the consequences of this on Budapest and Hungary, e.g.: the streets of Budapest are no longer worth walking on because people’s skin is burning, the lakes in Hungary have disappeared… In the world depicted, both the environment and society are struggling to survive. The country is governed by decrees. There are strict rules on the use of water and on all the activities that can protect our environment, that try to slow down this process, the process of warming, because a situation of water scarcity is creating a crisis.
Our participatory theatre play, Water Level, addresses the audience as a community, who actively participate in the theatre play, the objective of which is to give them a visceral experience of what happens in society, in their environment, when there is a water shortage in the country, when they are told how to ration drinking water and what happens when they don’t know what the truth really is. The game uses the participants’ imagination and help to build a world of fiction, a world of water scarcity in Hungary in 2040. In this fictional world, they have to make decisions in order to live the gravity of the situation and think about how they should react to the social crisis of global warming in their world today.
Perspektíva Drama Workshop was founded by Anita Patonay in 2023 with the aim of creating an intellectual workshop where actor-drama teachers with decades of experience in drama education work to enable children, young people and adults to meet themselves, their peers and social issues through the diverse tools of drama education and theatre education. Their mission is to enable participants to experience in their communities that their opinions matter, that they have a voice, that they have a voice to act. “We believe that through stories we can make sense of the world around us, and ourselves in it, more easily. We learn about the world through stories.”
Players in participatory theatre play:
Environmental Inspector: Viktor Bori
Professor Dr. Orsolya Szalay: Anita Patonay
Contributor to the discussion following the art project: Bence Fülöp, hydraulic engineer, water management expert
Moderator: Marietta Mogyosósy, landscape and horticultural engineer, nature facilitator
Date and time: 4 September 2024, 7 PM
Location: in front of Kelenföldi Library, 1119 Budapest, Etele út 55.
Duration: 1.45 hours (without intermission)
Language: Hungarian
Ticketed programme.
Ticket prices:
Full price ticket: 1.500 HUF
Student- pensioner ticket: 1.000 Ft
Supporter ticket: 5.000 Ft
Ticket purchase: HERE