Theatre Design & Technology - Oct 1974 - 15

Don Carlos, Guiseppe Verdi - National Opera, Budapest. Gabor Forray, Designer

bother him at all. As for the antiquity of the house, that is
also no apparent problem.
The stage elevators, operating on the Asphaleia
Hydraul ic System, were among the first of their kind in
Europe. Today, they don't function anymore, and there
is, it is said, an unwanted puddle of water in the
sub-basement. The fly system, also hydraulic, is still in
operation. "There is a tube with a pump in it, and this is
attached to the pulley system. It operates with ten
atmospheres of pressure. It may not be up-to-date, but it's
absolutely reliable, and it's noiseless l " Forray emphasized.
The lighting system is a very modern Strand Electric
installation.
When the National Opera is closed down for rejuvenation, there will be some awkward problems. Not many
opera companies have a second theatre, but the Erkel's
stage is only ten meters deep, while the National's is
twenty. That means, as Forray noted, that National sets,
to be used in the Erkel, have to be "forced". In fact, when
Forray is designing specifically for the Erkel, as he did for
the sumptuous production of Verdi's Don Carlos, he often
resorted to a forced perspective; to make the stage seem
deeper. Also, to avoid scenic clutter backstage, the Don
Carlos setting contained a framework of arches, rendered
in a sculptured manner. "I like to call my designs Space
Sculpture," Forray explained. These empty arches were
variously filled with shrubs, statues of saints, and other

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

objects to indicate different locals.
Forray did not mince words about the Erkel, named for
Ferenc Erkel, composer of the "national" opera, Bank
Ban. "It has one of the worst stages in Hungaryl" In
addition to its shallow stage and lack of off-stage space, it
has no elevators and no revolve. Its rigging is also hand
operated. Forray agreed that it was never intended for use
as an opera house. Originally, it was built as a theatre to
be used for operettas and musicals. It is not as old as the
National, but it is old enough, despite some modernizations of the facade, foyers, and auditorium. Scenic
solutions therefore have to take all the drawbacks into
consideration. Forray sa id he had to be resourcefu I so that
he did not come up with the same kind of solution each
time either.
"The stage and its mach inery are not important,"
Forray said. "What is important is what is put on that
stage, the scenery!" He believes that the National and the
Erkel achieve some quite remarkable effects without
elaborate machinery. In some productions, he noted,
changes which could be done by machines are deliberately
done by hand, in order to provide more control.
"People and the way they adapt to things are more
important than machineryl When our opera goes on tour
outside Hungary, it is very important for foreign stage
hands. Our scenery is just a pile of stuff, until it is put
together. Hungarian design is not so sterile as the German,

OCTOBER. 1974

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