Hungarian Theatre

The evolution in Transylvania of drama, a cultural form associated with the urban middle classes, was marked in the 17th century by both tradition and innovation. Most theatrical activity occurred within the precinct of schools. At Jesuit, Unitarian, and Calvinist colleges, theatrical productions were mounted to celebrate the end of the examination periods, as well as religious feasts and political milestones. Medieval mystery plays inspired, for instance, the Nativity plays at the Franciscan monastery of Csíksomlyó, while Comenius's reforms inspired the development of theatrical activity in Protestant schools.

The poetry teacher at Várad, Ferenc Borsáti, was encouraged by the lively commercial spirit of his town to write a celebratory play, in Latin and Hungarian, entitled Metamorphosis... Sigismundi Rákóczi. Completed in 1652, the work was published four years later at Várad. Nagybánya's first local dramatist was István Eszéki, who had studied at universities in Holland; he wrote a biblical play that, thanks to Teleki, appeared in print. A work dating from around 1668, Comedia Erdély siralmas állapotjáról (A Play About the Dismal Condition of Transylvania), conveyed the views of burghers, entrepreneurs, and others who disapproved of the government's mercantilist policies; 'public interest', 'selfishness', and 'Holland' appeared as characters on the stage. During Apafi's reign, Nagyenyed became the main locus of school theatricals; in 1676, students at Bethlen College staged an 'actus' written by one of their fellows, Miklós Misztótfalusi Kis.

{2-491.} Between 1687 and 1711, a wide variety of plays were staged regularly at schools of different denominations in Kolozsvár, Nagyenyed, and Szeben. With the rise of religious persecution, many Protestant schools abandoned this activity, but, the college at Nagyenyed and the Unitarian college at Kolozsvár were joined by the Jesuits in sustaining the tradition of theatrical productions. Plays were staged in Szeben even when the city was under siege, at the time of Rákóczi's War of Independence. There was strong demand for this form of entertainment. In 1707, a year that brought more than its share of troubles, the Jesuits in Szeben responded to the request of women by scheduling a second performance of their play. Similarly, at Kolozsvár, the Unitarians put on a special performance of their play for the common people of the town. Many sources attest that theatrical activity was becoming popular in schools and homes, towns and villages.

The dramatic form was still governed by tradition. Historical and allegorical figures, monsters, personifications of political and public figures, as well as of institutions and human characteristics, all engaged in dialogue in earthly and celestial settings. Biblical themes were complemented by secular ones. After the expulsion of the Turks, themes borrowed from classical mythology were gradually supplanted by scenes from Hungarian history. Many play titles suggest secular themes. Dramatic conflict was represented by spectacular scenes, with numerous extras, such as sirens, hunters, dancers, soldiers, angels, devils, choirs, and musicians. In the dramatic interludes, however, the staging of scenes from everyday life became more common.

Some 50–100 students would take part in a performance. The program of the play staged on 6 July 1702, at the Jesuit Academy in Kolozsvár indicates that of the twenty-five performers, only one came from a middle class family; the others were sons of Hungarian, Székely, Romanian, Saxon, Slovak, and Polish aristocrats or noblemen. In this Latin-language 'Theatrum', entitled A tisztelet {2-492.} házassága, avagy Korvin Mátyás fogolyból Csehország királyának veje lesz (The Marriage of Honesty, or Prisoner Matthias Corvinus Becomes the Son-in-law of the Bohemian King), the sole female part was played by the eleven-year-old Kelemen Mikes.

In Jesuit schools, the language of performance was Latin. In the 1690s and at the beginning of the 1700s, the theatrical productions in Unitarian, Calvinist, and Lutheran schools were already designed to appeal to audiences of diverse social strata and mother tongues. The play about Kinizsi, staged in Hungarian in 1699–1700, was reportedly seen by a large number of lay spectators. Zsigmond Miskolci Csulyak's highly entertaining play on Cyrus was staged at Nagyenyed College during the period of winter examinations in 1698, but the author's stage directions indicate he was trying to appeal to a less sophisticated audience. Between 1694 and 1700, the Unitarians in Kolozsvár would stage a play, first in Latin for high society, and then in Hungarian for the general public.

The first Hungarian theatrical enterprise of purely civic character was launched in Kolozsvár. In 1696, György Felvinczi obtained Emperor Leopold's permission to stage tragedies and comedies, in Latin and in Hungarian, in Hungary and Transylvania; his mission, as he put it, was to educate the mind and to mend and uplift spirits. Felvinczi, Transylvania's first 'professional' theatre producer, was a graduate of the Unitarian college. His didactic poems in praise of various crafts and professions had been published by Misztótfalusi's press, and he also published in 1693, at Kolozsvár, a translation entitled Az angliai országban levő Salerni-tana Scholának a jó egészségről írott könyve (The English Salernitana School's Book of Good Health). His informative poems and other writings reflected the general outlook of Kolozsvár's citizenry, and they conveyed the ideas on public education and culture of an intellectual belonging to the third generation of Cartesians.

{2-493.} It is believed that Felvinczi set up his stage under the shelter of the overhanging roof of houses on Kolozsvár's main square. In the introduction to his play Comicotragedia (1690–1693), he noted that his goal was to win spectators away from the plays Álom-könyvek (Dreambooks) and Cisió (Calendar), which were full of lies. His own play was inspired by Il pomo d'Oro, an operetta composed by Marc Antonio Cesti for the wedding of Emperor Leopold. According to the scenario, Pluto was dissatisfied with the division of labour among the gods, and sent envoys to Jupiter to obtain a redistribution. The theme, with additional allegorical episodes, bore some relevance to Transylvanian politics, but the play was not a great popular success. In 1698, Zsigmond Miskolci Csulyak wrote a play about a Median-Persian prince, Cyrus, in which he implied that the latter's adventurous life was comparable to that of the young Mihály Apafi II.

Pápai Páriz's play Izsák és Rebeka házasságok alkalmatosságokkal lött beszélgetés (Conversations on the Occasion of the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca) had several performances at the college of Nagyenyed. Written in idiomatic Hungarian, it updates the biblical story of Isaac and Rebecca with an idyllic evocation of engagement and marriage in Transylvania. Through a dramatis personae that includes maids and other domestics, Pápai gave a realistic picture of everyday life in the principality. He condemned the shirkers and idlers who spent their time playing cards and dice, drinking, and smoking pipes:

'Fejedelmek gyermekit látom, mint nevelik,

Agár, kantár, pohár csak, amihez szokik...'

[I see how the children of princes are brought up,

They care only about greyhounds, bridles,

and the drinking glass...][175]175. Ferenc Páriz Pápai, Izsák és Rebeka házasságok alkalmatosságokkal lött beszélgetés (Kolozsvár, 1703), in Páriz Pápai, Békességet, p. 361.

{2-494.} He might have been summing up Apáczai's criticism of provincial ignorance. The engaged couple, a wise and chaste girl and a thoroughly responsible young man, stand out against this grim background. With the appearance of a coarse and comic servant, the dialogue turns to marriage customs, faithfulness, and biblical tales; the worries of the young groom are related through a well-known folk song. The play, which reflects the spirit Puritan-ism and Cocceianism, was written for the wedding of Miklós Bethlen's daughter, and it concludes with a paean to Transylvania's chancellor. The work earned lasting popularity; it went through seven printings and was widely read as late as the 19th century.