Datas

The main hypothesis of the research is that the beginnings of alternative, experimental, progressive theatre in the seventies and eighties date back to the “amateur” theatre movement of the sixties. Thus, the first phase of the research addresses these events and institutions. Moreover, we are at the last possible moment of its integration of living memory, after the generation of creators active in the period and the generation of spectators who experienced the performances is slowly disappearing. Thus, their experiences are also incorporated in the research. It is also important to stress here that the designation ‘amateur’ referred primarily to the operating conditions (and not to the quality of the performances) of the professional companies.

The research are based on existing documents relating to amateur theatre in public collections and archives. In addition, the lack of basic research on the subject makes it particularly important to survey private archives. However, the study of amateur theatre creators and companies, which started in the 1960s, not only aims to fill a gap in the history of theatre in Hungary, but also to create new documents through interviews with creators, spectators, and critics. The results of the research – the metadata of the documents found, the oral history video interviews and the theatre history studies synthesising them – are published here, on the website in Hungarian and in the form of short summaries in English.

The study of the theatrical practices of the companies and creators to be processed are carried out in cultural institutes and open archives (Hungarian National Archives, Historical Archives of State Security Services, Open Society Archives, National Institute of Culture) and theatre collections (National Museum and Institute of Theatre History, National Széchenyi Library Theatre History Archives), the search for documents published in print in the Arcanum database, and the search for documents in private archives. In addition, the Arcanum database is used to review and collect contemporary reception (reviews, newspaper articles) and literature on the groups and communities. A specific objective is the inclusion of oral histories in the research, which would generate new perspectives and narratives through interviews with still available artists and some of their audiences, which would also rewrite and thus reopen (even already known) theatre historical contexts.

However, many of the documents uncovered by the research cannot be shared publicly on the website, as they are the property of other institutions or individuals, which the research does not have the resources to purchase. Thus, we only publish documentary material (articles, images, scripts, etc.) for which we have obtained permission from the institution and/or individual who owns the document. The other documents we have uncovered can be consulted at the research group’s headquarter (ELTE BTK, Budapest) on individual request.