Football and literature 5.

"I married and divorced, but all the thoughts running through my head were: goal-kicking and Maria Schneider. I managed to trade off my small council apartment for a larger one through a fictitious contract, but all the while I was occupied with the thought of goal-kicking and Maria Schneider."

Football and literature 4.

Endre Kukorelly: Macho football

"Without this, life itself just doesn’t work. Football is the arena of initiation, admission, and success, boys settle it playing, on their own, without any intervention from adults, cleanly and without pity, like wolf-cubs."

Football and literature 3.

József Mélyi: Football and Sex

...an English historian of football recently came forward with the remarkable conclusion that football never would have become so widespread in England had the higher-ups not seen in it an effective remedy against masturbation in pubescent boys.

Football and literature 2.

László Darvasi: The meaning of the game

"His name was Igor Khlebnikov. He was a midfielder in Vorkuta, and last year, just before a cup match, while they were oiling his thighs, he realized what the meaning of the game was."

Football and literature 1.

"...for this is how we play football: without hope or glory, but at least we don’t pretend not to know what is happening here, that behind each pioneer there is an empire, tanks, Gulag, Afghanistan, and many, many unuttered compound sentences."

Football and sex

József Mélyi

...football never would have become so widespread in England had the higher-ups not seen in it an effective remedy against masturbation in pubescent boys.

Chance meetings on a dramaturge's dissecting table

Three performances by the Béla Pintér Company

Writer-director-actor Béla Pintér occupies a unique role as impressario in Budapest's alternative theatre scene. His signature blend of music and movement, traditional and modern theatre techniques makes each of his one-act shows an unpredictable and memorable experience.

Cheap life, pricey death

István Tasnádi: Hungarian Zombie (theatre review)

A middle-aged husband unable to provide for his wife and mother-in-law after the local meat-packing plant closed down decides to commit suicide. An infotainment show host arrives to sign a contract whereby he will do it live on television.

Forgotten by history

Zoltán Kamondi: Dolina (film review)

This year's Budapest Film Week, the major event of Hungarian filmmakers, was again rich in literary adaptations. A feature by director Zoltán Kamondi, Dolina, was based on Ádám Bodor's 1999 novel, The Visit of the Archbishop.

A wild Don Juan in Budapest

Viktor Bodó: The Great Sganarelle and Co.

Viktor Bodó claims to have used György Petri's translation of Molière's Don Juan for his new production staged in the Katona József Theatre, The Great Sganarelle and Co. Yet it seems as though Don Juan merely provided the original inspiration for Viktor Bodó to set about transplanting this mythic figure to a modern urban setting.