Next performances:
Is watching the same as seeing? Can someone without eyes truly see, and can someone with eyes be blind? How can we grasp the real and meaningful that hides behind appearances? These were important questions for Jacques Lusseyran, a blind writer of the 20th century, and they are also at the core of the performance created through the collaboration of Baltazár Theatre and Artus. Inspired by the life and two novels of the French writer, IT’S TIME FOR THE LIGHT is co-directed by Elek Dóra and Gábor Goda. This production is based on a true story, with the lead role played by blind actor Dániel Klabacsek.
Premiere: October 12, 2024
Duration: 90 minutes
From Gábor Goda:
“I have been working with Baltazár Theatre on our new joint production for a year. Dóra Elek and I are co-directing this play. The actors are all either intellectually disabled (mostly with Down syndrome) or visually and/or physically impaired. (In everyday language, they are often referred to as ”disabled” or, more delicately, ”people with disabilities” — but understandably, they themselves reject these stigmatizing terms, preferring the more straightforward word ”disabled”.) Allof them are different, each a unique individual. But together — as a team, a company — they are united. They are committed to making theatre: honest, open, incredibly rich emotionally, yet at the same time fragile, sensitive, vulnerable. They can express emotions, they can cry, hug, and even fight. They are all wonderful. Where there is scarcity, there is also abundance — a wonderful richness. At first, I was worried: How would I work with them? How would I understand them? What would they understand, how much, and how quickly? How would they memorize movements and lines? How much would they need to rehearse? And above all — how should I ”treat them well”? Then we started working together and everything became simple and clear. No questions, no doubts. Working with them was pure poetry and being around them was pure love. Through them, I came to understand something important again — not just intellectually this time, but with real, palpable depth: we are all wounded. We all live with disabilities — we just may not know it, or we don’t admit it. (And if ”disabled” applies to all of us, it stops being stigmatizing.) None of us are truly ‘healthy’ or ‘whole’ — we only long to be. Living with disability, being wounded — this is natural. It’s human.
We have been wounded since birth — by our parents or our grandparents, who themselves carry wounds passed down through centuries and history. Then we are further injured by society, the school system, politics, and constantly by each other’s wounds — and our own. Our wounds of different magnitude limit us to different degrees. Our wounds don’t only limit us. In better cases, they motivate us too — to learn through them, because of them, and to strive for healing, for wholeness. The problem is, many of our wounds, our disabilities are mostly invisible, therefore they’re easy to hide, to deny, sometimes we simply don’t even know about them. These unrecognized or unaccepted wounds(, disabilities) can’t teach us so we can’t learn from them, learn through them. Our disabilities don’t lie in the disabilities themselves — but in us denying them, not accepting them. The moment we recognize and accept our imperfection as part of who we are, our disability becomes a teacher, shedding light on what our unique strengths, our peace lie in, how through the hidden abilities we have, we can offer a lot to others – and ourselves
Thank You, dear Baltazár actors, people with Down syndrome and many kinds of disabilities, for lighting a ‘light’ in my wounded, disabled heart.
And how fitting that the title of our performance is: It’s Time for Light.
I believe we have created a moving and sensitive performance — not just for people diagnosed with disabilities, but for all theatre-lovers, and for all who consider themselves ‘healthy’ or ‘naturally disabled’. In other words: for everyone.
I hope it brings unsettling realizations to many.”
— Gábor Goda
