Let’s play without taboos!

We love playing – and during it, crying and laughing. We love the theatre to make us think, to upset, distract and address us. To show that it is possible to live differently. To become or not to become a mother. To walk and stand on the street, window-shopping. To create and attend a circus or a puppet show. Actively, courageously, experimentally, differently.

At this year’s Spring Festival, we bring to Budapest one of the greatest European theatrical sensations of the recent years. After Avignon and Amsterdam, Vígszínház will host Wéber Kata’s play, Pieces of a Woman, directed by Kornél Mundruczó and performed by TR Warszava on 4 and 5 May. This original stage adaptation of the story, which examines the fate of women, the eternal themes of sin and punishment in the age of the #metoo movement, has been awarded the most prestigious Polish awards. Thus, it will be a special experience for everyone, including those who have seen the film version in the cinema or on Netflix.

Motheronly1 – a week-long thematic festival is organised by Jurányi, Manna and Tesla Lab on childbearing, childbirth, parenthood, the tragedy of child loss, new paths, myths and misconceptions – without taboos. The performances of fresh, independent theatrical productions are complemented by talks, baby&mum socials, therapeutic readings – across the city.

This time, Trafo presents the new production, entitled Screws, by the audience’s favourite circographer, Alexander Vantournhout of Belgium, in a site-specific performance, walking through the spaces of Crystal on Margaret Island on 6, 7 and 8 May. There, you are free to walk around, look around, find a vantage point, move up, even if only by chance, to follow the guidance and discover what the dancer-acrobats can achieve by fastening different objects (ice shoes, bowling balls, antigravity shoes) to their bodies to defy gravity.

Budapest Puppet Theatre’s adult puppet festival Without Strings and the installation performance series of KirakArt 2.0 offer similarly exciting genre explorations at dozens of locations of the city, but you should also not be surprised to see people walking backwards along Bartók Béla Street, but you can even join in. Further information is available in one place, in the genre filter of the website where the city is playing #cityofplay.