Mini Matinée
Mancsi Fabók's Puppet Theatre: When the Heavenly King Arrives
The long-awaited great day is approaching: Christmas Eve is almost here, making it time for a nativity play. Mancsi Fabók and Árpád Nagy Keresztes, who live and sustain folk culture every day, are getting ready to retell the story of the birth of Christ in flavourful Hungarian, with lots of humour, endless creativity and inexhaustible enthusiasm. Children in a playful mood can expect dancing puppets, stories told in song and the sound of bagpipes, with the Heavenly King also joining in the fun. And we haven't even mentioned the ‘Rézmuska' yet.
In lieu of any further praise, we instead quote a critic's appreciative take on Mancsi Fabók: "She finds the optimal voice for any circumstances; wherever she picks up the thread, she connects, reacts, brings life and cheer to everyone present and sweeps them along with her.” And indeed: she is the one from Hungary's already quite rich world of puppeteers who should be prescribed to both young and old alike, to civilians and professionals, as well as to the manual labourer and the intellectual. Mancsi Fabók's Puppet Theatre is living proof that Hungarian folk customs are neither distant nor inaccessible, and that their traditions are not dead material, but rather a vibrant and humorous whole, mischievous and often profane, which is kneaded by expert hands so that the result can find its way into our everyday lives. When the Heavenly King Arrives, which has been playing continuously throughout the country for nearly ten years, tells the well-known story of the birth of Christ, complete with a portable Bethlehem manger, lots and lots of furry sheepskin coats for the shepherds and strange baskets, ironically and self-reflectively thinking about what would have happened if... The spontaneous bantering from Mancsi Fabók and Árpád Nagy Keresztes spices up what is already a hearty meal. And as we laugh ourselves to tears, we can learn about life in the grandest sense of the word, the proper care of the soul and the vital importance of serenity.
Creators and performers:
Mariann Fabók, Árpád Keresztes Nagy
Age: 3-8 year
Presented by: Müpa Budapest
