Imitation of Life
Kornél Mundruczó/ Proton Theatre |
Somewhere in the outskirts of Budapest a civil servant rings a doorbell. An eviction notice in his briefcase. She will have to leave her grimy flat. Defaulters won’t be tolerated. But an unexpected turn of events brings the government official face to face with a dilemma.
Imitation of Life is a cinematographic, poetic and provocative masterpiece about the dregs of society. The Hungarian theatre and film maker Mundruczó [Gödöllő, 1975] is fascinated with social exclusion. For Imitation of Life he drew from a controversial criminal trial in May 2015, when a boy stabbed a young Roma to death on a bus in Budapest. The culprit himself turned out to be another Roma.
Do we pick our own fate, or are our lives predetermined? That is the central question in this gooseflesh-inducing play. Slowly the decrepit apartment begins to reveal its dark secrets to its new residents. One thing is certain: family history will repeat itself if certain patterns aren’t broken. “Drama that will move you to tears”, according to ruhrbarone.de.
directed by: Kornél Mundruczó
performed by: Lili Monori, Roland Rába, Annamária Láng, Zsombor Jéger, Dáriusz Kozma
