Living the Dream with Grandma

László Göndör & Éva Katona

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Living the Dream with Grandma

László Göndör & Éva Katona

László Göndör suffers an identity crisis after moving in with his 97-year-old grandmother, a Shoah survivor, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. For 32 days, the two try to understand each other’s pain and trauma, as well as their profound love for each other. Video and audio recordings from their time together reveal the impact of intergenerational trauma on their personalities and their relationship. The gap between the two generations is bridged by their love for each other and through a process of understanding and acceptance. In this deeply moving theatrical piece, László Göndör achieves the seemingly impossible of addressing these multi-layered and complex issues poetically and with great humour.

Infos
  • Dauer: 75 Minuten
  • Alter: empfohlen ab 16 Jahren
  • Sprache: Ungarisch und Englisch mit deutschen Übertiteln
  • Am 23.01. im Anschluss Künstlergespräch
Accessibility

Accessibility of Location

Zugänglich mit Rollstuhl
Barrierefreie Haltestelle
Behindertenparkplätze vorhanden
Barrierefreie Toilette
Assistenzhund willkommen
Sponsors and Supporters

László Göndör – Performer, Director, Playwright, Concept
Éva Katona – Performer
Kornél Laboda – Co-director, Playwright, Concept
Zsófi Bódi – Dramaturge, Playwright, Concept
Alexandra Láng – Audio and Video Editor, Concept
Lili Olga Horváth – Psychologist Consultant, Concept
Márk Bartha – Sound Designer
Gabriella Csoma – Set and Costume Designer
Bence Somoskövi & Bence Kovács- Vajda – Sound Masters
Máté Bredán – Light Designer
Ákos “Papa” Lengyel – Technician
Máté Bartha – Documentary Materials, External Consultant
Tamás Ördög – External Consultant
Zsuzsi Szakács – Production Assistant
Dániel Mayer – Production Manager
Andrea Ausztrics – Creative Producer
Brigitta Varga – Tour manager
 
Special thanks to Ádám Fekete, Tamás Turai, Dániel Daoud, Rozi Szeleczki, Leta Popescu, Péter Hajmási, Zoltán Ásmány, Nelli Orbán, Katalin Farkas, Zsuzsa Bánkuti, Ómama Antikvitás
 
Funder and (co)producers:
The production was realized within the framework of the Staféta Program established and supported by the Municipality of Budapest.
Co-production partner: Trafó House of Contemporary Arts, Orlai Production Office, Marom Budapest – Jewish Culture 2028
Supporters: Fuge Production, National Cultural Fund of Hungary, Mozaik Jewish Community Hub, Endre Somogyi
Production partner: SzínMűHely Foundation
Production: Magnum Production

A project within the framework of the Alliance of International Production Houses supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and supported by Goethe Institut München.

Biography László Göndör

László Göndör is a performer and theatre-maker, based in Budapest and Amsterdam. After studying interdisciplinary performance arts in both the United States and Indonesia, he has continued his adventurous journey in Hungary’s independent theatre scene. His work is known for its bold and sardonic humour and for walking the tightrope between entertainment and rupture of taboos. He is particularly interested in expanding the concept of one-person shows in innovative, self-reflective manners and blending trash aesthetics with conventional beauty. He is currently enrolled in the International Dramaturgy Masters programme at the University of Amsterdam. 

Behind the Scenes

1)

An interesting background might be that during the 32 days I spent in Grandma's apartment between December 16 and January 17, 2020, I recorded about 42 hours of audio and 28 hours of video, capturing all kinds of conversations, everyday moments, and regularly recurring situations like our daily ritual of saying "Good morning!

2)

Grandma and I learnt the lines of the following dialog from the "Diner Scene" of David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and it became part of the show. Lynch's works are very important to me in general, and especially during the time my grandma and I spent together. Learning the following dialog in English was a great reflection for me on the hidden stories, secrets, unspeakable traumas and fears that we've been hiding from each other for a long time. Interestingly, David Lynch died recently, on January 15, 2025, while my grandmother was born on January 16, 1924, which I see as a beautiful coincidence.

Diner scene, Mulholland Drive
David Lynch (1946-2025)

Dan (Laci): I just wanted to come here.
Herb (Grandma): To Winkie's?
Dan (Laci): This Winkie's.
Herb (Grandma): Okay, why this Winkie's?
Dan: It's kind of embarrassing.
Herb: Go ahead.
Dan: I had a dream about this place.
Herb: Oh, boy.
Dan: See what I mean?
Herb: Okay, so you had a dream about this place. Tell me.
Dan: Well, it's the second one I've had, but they're both the same. They start out that I'm in here, but it's not day or night. It's kind of half-night, you know? But it looks just like this... except for the light. And... I'm scared like I can't tell you. Of all people, you're standing right over there... by that counter. You're in both dreams and you're scared too. I get even more frightened when I see how afraid you are and then I realize what it is. There's a man... in back of this place. He's the one who's doing it. I can see him through the wall. I can see his face. I hope that I never see that face, ever, outside of a dream. That's it.
Herb: So... you came here to see if he's really out there.
Dan: To get rid of this god-awful feeling.
Herb: Right, then.

References

Imre Kertész: Nobel-price winner Hungarian writer, Holocaust survivor

Enikő Eszenyi: Hungarian theatre director, cancelled in 2019 due to her abusive behavior towards her colleagues

Esterházy (Péter): Hungarian writer, Peace Prize (1950-2016)

Nádas (Péter): Hungarian writer, Franz Kafka Prize (*1942)

Krasznarhorkai (László): Hungarian writer, International Booker Prize (1954 - )

 

From the "Love or hate game":

Henrik Havas: Hungarian publicist, known for his "provocative" style

Kozsó: Hungarian pop songwriter, singer, musician icon from the 90's

Tamás Gyárfás: Hungarian publicist, accused of several crimes

Cini Zalatnay: Hungarian singer, pop diva of the 70's and 80's

Kököjszi and Bobojsza: a Hungarian youth literature book by Sándor Török (1939)

László Gálffy: one of the most respected living Hungarian actor

Oszkár Ascher: actor, famous Hungarian theatre figure, active in the first half of the 20th century

Ede Teller: Hungarian-American theoretical physicist and chemical engineer from the 20th century, the Hungarian father of the nuclear weapon, the hydrogen bomb. 

The Whiskey Robber: Hungarian famous bank robber who was active in the 90's, he got his name after his habit of always drinking a shot of whiskey before robbing a bank.

 

Dániel Varró: Hungarian contemporary poet

Bem Cinema: still functioning art house cinema in Budapest, located right under Grandma's old apartment from where she was deported in 1943.

Sándor Fábry: Hungarian showman, most active in the 2010's, right wing comedian

Attila József: one of the greatest Hungarian poet of all time with strong leftist-humanist views

Árpád Göncz: President of Hungary, from 1990 until 2000

The novel Fatelessness: Imre Kertész's world-famous Nobel Prize-winning book based on his experiences in the Holocaust.

Mónika Lampert: ex socialist MP

Frigyes Karinthy: Frigyes Karinthy was a Hungarian author, playwright, poet, journalist, and translator (19th - 20th century)

Anna Fazekas: Hungarian writer, literature teacher, Grandma's step-mother figure who took care of Grandma's intellectual developement and socialization after Grandma's mother died of cancer when she was 10

Rajk Show Trial: László Rajk was a communist politician and minister who was killed as a consequence of a manipulated conceptual trial in 1949 by the moscowit wing of Hungarian communists.

Péter Méhes: Grandma's first love who was murdered by the nazis (probably in Auschwitz)

Judith Ilkovics: Grandma's good friend, with whom they survived the women concentration camp in Torn

Magda Szabó: Hungarian writer, 1917 - 2007, known best for her novel 'The Door'

Ferenc Mérei: a Hungarian psychologist and educator, 1909 - 1986. He was the mentor and teacher in pedagogy and psychology professor and mentor  of Grandma and Grandpa in the newly founded Hochschule that Grandma and Grandpa was admitted soon after their liberation from the concentration camps.