Theatrical investigations

A Simorág DanCircus and Detectivity, the Live Detective Game coproduction

It's like attending a theatre or a museum tour, where you can witness the unfolding of a specific performance.
As a spectator, you follow the development of the characters’ fate, you do not have to participate, it is up to you how much you get involved in the story or shape its direction.The scenes stop from time to time and we interpret and decipher the events.

You are surrounded by theatre sets; you enter the character’s own environment.

Zone

Zone

The son of the mayor of Metropolis went missing near the Zone yesterday. If they find the mayor's son or those who kidnapped or killed him inside the Zone, they can prevent the mayor from launching an all-out attack on the entire population of the Zone. The detectives have a very short time before the police arrive and attack the people. In the framework of a community investigation, it is possible to interrogate the inhabitants of Metropolis who have been relocated into the Zone! Be objective and you can find out what happened!

During your journey, you will need critical thinking, and you can improve your knowledge of vulnerable groups.

The preparation of the project in Hungary was directed by the fund managers of the support systems of the EGT Norwegian Civil Fund (including the Autonomy Foundation, with whom Detectivity and our Pro Jugendstíl Young Artists for Culture Foundation established permanent cooperation).

The program was implemented in community planning under the leadership of Márton Illés and Ágnes Simor, with the cooperation of 6 NGOs and 30 creatives.

RECOMMENDED AGE GROUP: 14+
PARTICIPANTS: 20-40
LENGTH OF THE GAME: 3 hours

House of Fortune

House of Fortune

Coming from a big city, it might seem that life in Bodrogbékás could be the secret to eternal youth. When we spend time here, sometimes it's hard to tell what age we live in...

A performance where the spectators become scouts, secret observers, then initiates, and perhaps, as they unravel the story, they turn out to be characters themselves, part of an interactive theatre game.
How can an ordinary world be so strange and bizarre? How are individual destinies related to the fate of a village?
At some point in the line of events the viewers have to work out what happened, what the mystery is, so that the story can continue! Everyone sees and hears something different. As they move from one apartment to another, entering the life of the villagers, they get better and better in piecing together the puzzle. Humour, absurd visions and reality: how can it all fit in our country... in a small village... on the stage?

The script was written by Ferenc Sebő, based on the concept of Anna Hanák and Ágnes Simor.
/ Recommended for ages 16+/
Coproduction of Simorág DanCircus and Detectivity Live Detective Game

CAST: Sándor Révész,
Tour guide: Béla Stubnya
Aunt Marika: Ildikó Molnár
Jutka from Budapest: Andrea
Csík Józsi from Budapest: Márton Vincze
Tropical bird: Eszter Kovács
Grandpa Bodrogi, Gyuszi Bodrogi (the boy): Ferenc Sebő
Hajni (the girl): Ágnes Simor

LIGHTING DESIGN, SCENERY: Balázs Szabon
MUSIC: János Vázsonyi
DRAMATURGY, STRUCTURAL PLANNING: Anna Hanák and Ágnes Simor
MAKEUP, COSTUMES: Eszter Kovács
DIRECTOR: Ágnes Simor
Coproduction of Simorág DanCircus and Detectivity Live Detective Game

The Spirit’s Path

The Spirit’s Path

A guided tour and investigation in Erzsébetváros, Budapest. During the program, the participants take part in a journey through time. Going back to the 1940s, they meet a character who is struggling to survive.

The participants can get a glimpse into the daily life of the Jews in an era when Jewish culture was still flourishing, but soon everything was to change and disappear.

Visitors are not just observers, they can help the character achieve her goal; and when they return to the present, they find documents that reveal what happened to her. We used real family stories, which can be viewed together with archival photos and materials during the post-show discussion.

LOCATION: Jewish Historical Archive of Erzsébetváros (7th District, Budapest)
GAME PLANNING: Anna Hanák, Ágnes Simor
LEADING RESERCHER, TOUR GUIDE: Kata Fris
SET, PROP: Anna Hanák, Ágnes Simor
ACTOR, DIRECTOR, WRITER (based on personal family stories): Simor Ágnes

Grid

Grid

You arrive at the police station during an open day. You are greeted by a police assistant who shows you the equipment used during an investigation. The chief investigator is away, but even in his absence you can gain insight into a running case.

Based on the sketches written on the wall by the detective, you can piece together what happened, who the suspect is, and material evidence and testimonies related to him are also revealed.
And there is also a cell.
The theme evokes the segregated conditions in an average Hungarian village. The background work of the sociologists of the UCCU Roma organization helped in the elaboration.
Our main partner in the project is the Autonomy Foundation.

GAME PLANNING: Anna Hanák, Ágnes Simor
LEADING RESERCHER, TOUR GUIDE: Kata Fris
SET, PROP: Anna Hanák, Ágnes Simor
ACTOR, DIRECTOR, WRITER (based on personal family stories): Simor Ágnes

JÁNOS VITÉZ

János Vitéz

WE CREATED A THEATRICAL FORM WHERE THE ACTOR USES THEIR ENVIRONMENT AS A THEATRE SET. THE VISUAL (FINE ART) MEDIA/MEDIUM PRESENTS THE LIFE OF THE POET, SÁNDOR PETŐFI. WE COMMISSIONED AN ARTIST, GÁBOR GREGOVSZKI, TO CREATE THE VISUAL BACKGROUND TO OUR PROCESSING THEATRE LESSON. WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE PETŐFI LITERARY MUSEUM HE MADE WONDERFUL PAINTED WOODEN PANELS.
FOLLOWING THE MUSEUM’S REFURBISHEMENT THERE ARE PLANS FOR THE PERFORMANCE TO BE PRESENTED THERE AS WELL. UNTIL THEN WE ARE TAKING THIS SPECIAL THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE TO SCHOOLS. THE PERFORMER USES PETŐFI’S POEM, „JÁNOS VITÉZ”, TO CREATE THE TEXTUAL WORLD OF THE PERFORMANCE.

„When wonder of wonders! what befell, what befell!

What befell was, the flower turned into his Nell.

Frantically into the water he sped,

And delivered the girl who'd been raised from the dead.”

This is where the performance starts, at the end of the story. We engage the children into discovering the world of János vitéz by starting the story from the end and following it back along the encounters of the two main characters. As a sort of literary topos, the rose - the symbol of lovers - carries the thread of the story. Together with the children, we explore how one thread of a story can be followed through along a symbol.

LENGTH OF THE PROGRAM: 40 minutes, followed by a 30-minute discussion
TARGET GROUP: Age 9-12,
Number of participants: classes of 16-32, plenary dramatic scenes and interactive exercises alternating
TYPE OF LESSON: literary studies, partner-study, self-study
QUESTION IN FOCUS: When we love somebody very much, how do we overcome the hardships for them and for ourselves?

CREATIVES:
SCRIPT based on Sándor Petőfi’s „János vitéz”: Ágnes Simor
PERFORMER: Ildikó Molnár / Ágnes Simor
SET, PROPS: Gábor Gregovszki, Bala Szabon