Pest, My Hometown

The author of brilliant comedies and The Paul Street Boys is very well known, but we are not so familiar with the passionate journalist, writing articles about his beloved city Budapest in a particular way behind a coffee table. The sharp mind, the theatre talent and the sense of humor of Ferenc Molnár are very characteristic in the writings of Pest, My Hometown too. He was a chronicler of a dynamic flourishing metropolis. “He was interested in everything, he turned around after all kind of subjects, and wrote about Pest in a passionate, funny, sometimes ironic way. The dark side of the enormous economic boom, the story of the common man, the behind the scenes secrets of the theatre, the controversy of a public life, the corruption, the toxic effects of the contemporary media, the contrast between stressing patriotism and being a real patriot were just as interesting topics for him as a hunting adventure with the king, or an elegant pig slaughter in the city…

In this performance the unknown side of the well-known author can be seen during a very exciting time travel between the old Budapest the Budapest of today.

The show is approximately 80 minutes long.

Set design: Péter Enyvvári
Musicians: Rita Termes, Izsák Farkas, Mihály Simkó-Várnagy
Text edited, music composed and directed by: Béla Fesztbaum

Opening night at Vígszínház: 15. 01. 2022

The permission of Ferenc Molnár heirs was covered by Hofra Kft. (www.hofra.hu).

 (The performance was made originally at Rózsavölgyi Szalon in 2016)

performed by: Fesztbaum Béla