An idea, aim and united world of form, which gives interpreting frames to the story are seemingly presented on the stage, but this seeming nature of it is the visible problem: it confuses the tale. It is true, in spite of the fact that Odette and Siegfried’s classical story, which comes from a Russian folk story, is definitely between the easier ones: the cold-breathed Red-Bearded – “do not ask me why” – turned Odette together with eleven of her mates to be swans. However, being swan must be a wonderful thing, it cannot be too comfortable, so that is why the girls would like to get back their human bodies, for which only one pure thing is needed, a prince has to pledge love three times to the most beautiful one of them – and it is Odette of course. And we all know, that the first pledge easily comes of the mouth, but the second one can miss its aim easily. The situation is the same with Siegfried, whose action is hardened by the Red-Bearded, and another wonderful Odette-doppelganger, by name Odile. Finally, the prince is successful, he defeats the evil one, he declares his love, and our characters can live happily ever after, until their death.

To show all of it, from the director, Zoltán Balázs, came an idea, so that the performers would perform with fans. It is not a problem, they sometimes very illustratively, beautifully, expressively move their feathers. Their manual cooling tools, with different patterns, colour and size, which have been designed for forty degrees of heat – that way, in the minus twenty they have a really anachronistic view - with the help of them, we can easily associated with swans that appear in the title. The problem starts somewhere with the realization, as with the fans the witty and creative revival of the tale, the real performance does not happen, just its lyrical formation, the shadowing, the further abstraction of already abstract classical melodies can happen that way.

In the background, obviously can be found something similar to a shore of a lake and a landscape of a lake on the set, which draws it all, and elevates a throne (Péter Polgár), but not many concrete things can be found in the situations, not only by the children but by adults too. It is true in spite of the fact, that the actors, using the maximum of their presence on the stage, without word, they tell and move the tale and the dialogues, interpretively by Gyöngyi Blasek, and very purely (in case of the tale, this method is very disadvantageous; the try is understandable, so that they do not babble to the children, but meanwhile it is worth giving them something, to make them take attention – and here you have to be skilled child or attendant, who can follow the introductory text) so as they would talk to one another in reality. But even this kind of presence cannot move the wandering doubts from the heads, that there is hardly anything to watch here, and if there is, that it is not about something, which can be grabbed.

All of it is made to be unfortunate many times by András Szöllősi’s choreography, which seems to be very spectacular on the level of imagination, but in reality, can be very accidental. For the presentation of the dances, we would need at least one at about twenty years old juggler, and parallel to him, the same amount of dancer experience – but a puppet artist profession is less important. Even the most talented characters have serious problems during the throwing and turning of the fans – many properties fall down meanwhile. I am not sure, that it is the actors’ fault, if somebody does not care about the edges of their abilities. Of course, it must be right that way, this can be the conception, but then there is a question mark in front of us, in connection with the fact, that what this performance is about.

In spite of it, the children follow with acceptable behaviour, the scenes, which many times are without any ideas; they follow the actors’ example, and sometimes they throw some objects to one another, sometimes they listen to Tchaikovsky – the fast Spanish dance has the greatest success obviously. By reaching the end, they start whispering more and more loudly, in an apocalyptic tensioned way, but before anything bad can happen, the performance is over.

However, there are some very enjoyable moments, and the music has become well-known not by accident, but why has this performance been made, why in the Puppet Theatre, and then what makes a tale this tale (if it is), and what it is about, so any reasons of this happening is so slowly moving as a beaten swan after a dog-walking in the park. But why does a performance have to be performed as a performance for children, which aims especially adults with the form of its language?

Attila Nyulassy, 7óra7, 2012

(translated by: Veronika Fülöp)