‘Exit’

Immigrants from different Eastern European countries are locked inside an abandoned building, somewhere in Great Britain. The wait feels interminable but it is particularly well-suited to introspection. “What does it feel like to have left something and got nothing in return?” is what the protagonists seem to be asking.

Divided into seven scenes, the performance cleverly analyses the reactions, customs, innate or acquired behaviour, lack of confidence, fears and dreams of migrants from the Balkans. In this novel experience, the director, Árpád Schilling, a major figure of contemporary theatre, didn’t give the actors a script but asked them to improvise during rehearsals, from scenarios they had been given. The result is incredibly authentic and this is what makes Exit so special. The Hungarian, Romanian and Serbian actors find in their roots and personal identities the raw material that they refine before the audience’s eyes.

Árpád Schilling is one of the most important Hungarian theatre directors. He founded the theatre company Krétakör - The Chalk Circle, with which he performed valuable plays around the world. The young director caused a furore wherever he went. He received several job offers from prominent Hungarian theatres, but preferred to continue paving his own way.