Absolution/Blessing

Premiere: June 11, 2021, Baltazar House

„Every run has a different smell. And a different story and a different lesson. And many times it’s devilishly hard, but no way should you give up because there’s something you can only experience through it. Today’s run has the scent of freshly cut grass and black bellflowers. And I run around Margaret Island once and twice and many times, and suddenly I realize I’m already on Gellert Hill. Running is my passion, running  up a mountain. It’s that simple. Just run up. Up to the sky where space is infinite and light is infinite. And I run and keep thinking, while my body is switching to a steady pace: what have I done so far in my life?”

Klári Varga’s monodrama is about the life of St. Margaret from the House of Árpád, a Hungarian ruling dynasty. The performance seeks the answer to what may we have in common in our lives and in that of a holy woman who lived in the 14th century. The narrator  of the drama is a forty-three-year-old biologist who struggles with her own soul and pain while running on Margaret Island and is looking for a place for herself in the world. The example of St. Margaret teaches her how to draw from her strength and courage after her losses, and what it means to be free.

The performance was supported by the Hungarian Academy of Arts and the Ministry of Human Resources.

Text by Klári Varga and Beáta Adorján using excerpts by and from the works of Murakami Haruki, János Kodolányi, Gyula Krúdy, The Legend of St. Margaret, „Pancreas Diary” by Péter Esterházy// Choreography: Gábor Katona // Music: Klári Varga // Set design: Péter Ondraschek // Dramaturge: Beáta Adorján // Performed by Klári Varga