Middle Eastern Bloc Season 2. Episode 9:
Symptoms by Csaba Székely
Performer: Kasperi Nordman
Sound design and music: Saku Kämäräinen
Concept: David Kozma and Bita Razavi
In Spring 2020, when the first wave of the global pandemic hit the world, we were wondering how people residing outside their country of birth experienced the situation. How people living away from their families coped with the difficulties. We asked ten writers to reflect on their experiences and published the stories in the form of a podcast.
Now, towards the end of 2021, the situation has continued way longer than most of us could imagine. Different countries have dealt with the latter waves of pandemic with different strategies.The vaccination entered the scene but not all countries have access to it equally. Global economy and political relations came into play. All of these have created different experiences of the situation in different parts of the world. Some people deal with the disappointment of cancelled theatre performances and closed bars, some bury friends or family members on a regular basis.
We decided to reflect on the situation again in another season of our podcast. We asked writers and playwrights from different corners of the world to reflect on their experiences and their surroundings with the hope to draw a wider image of the situation and put things into perspective.
Csaba Székely is a playwright born in 1981 in Târgu Mureș, Romania.
His first play (“Do You Like Banana, Comrades?“) won the regional prize for Europe at the BBC’s International Radio Playwriting Competition in 2009.
He has written a trilogy about country life in Transylvania – their titles are Bányavirág (Mineflowers), Bányavakság (Mineblindness) and Bányavíz (Minewater) -, examining issues such as unemployment, alcoholism, nationalism, corruption and high rates of suicide among Hungarian population in Transylvania. The trilogy has been published in a volume by the Hungarian publishing house Magvető under the title Bányavidék (Minelands). The three plays have been produced in Hungarian, Romanian and Slovakian theatres.
His historical comedy called Vitéz Mihály (Michael the Brave), about the rise and fall of a medieval Romanian national hero, has been produced by Hungary’s Weöres Sándor Theatre.
He has written two musicals: Hogyne, drágám! (Sure, honey!, produced by the National Theatre of Târgu Mureș, Romania) and Passio XXI, a contemporary take on Jesus’ last days, which was directed by Robert Alföldi at Budapest Sports Arena.
His play containing four political satires, patru piesuțe politice despre dușmani (Four political plays about enmity) has been produced by the National Theatre of Târgu Mureș, Romania.
He is one of the scriptwriters for the 3rd season of HBO Hungary’s show „Terápia“ (“In Treatment“).
