The first steps were taken during the LOW Festival in 2008, when three plays were presented to the public (a Flemish and two Dutch ones), which soon found their way to and got settled in the Hungarian theatre scene.

The first stair got loose: the three dramas read out last year were launched, and are now orbiting the theatre world on their own; their fate now depends on celestial constellations. We continue to stream ahead in the drama aether – who knows where we will land? One thing is certain: the landscape we are going to arrive at looks familiar and we painfully but surely know our way around, although we have never been here before. We may wonder again how familiar these unfamiliar details are, and how come this world is so Dutch in a Hungarian way.

Last year’s strange family stories were presented in a bitter tone. This time we will offer a few that are no less distressing, though they are seen through a different prism that is in the hands of Judith Herzberg, the queen of Dutch drama, who will turn 75 this year, and her four-decades-younger contemporary, Esther Gerritsen.

Esther Gerritsen
Since her debut in 2000 with the short story collection entitled Privileged Consciousness, she has been considered one of the promising literary talents, a leading playwright of the Netherlands. Her drama, The hangover / The following day of the day, the night and the death, will be presented on 19 April.

Judith Herzberg
Judith Herzberg lives alternately in the Netherlands and Israel. She mainly writes poems and plays, but also works on movies. Herzberg debuted in 1961 as a poet in the weekly Vrij Nederland. Two of her plays (Leedvermaak and Rijgdraad) were filmed. Her drama, Wound, will be presented on 26 April.

http://www.merlinszinhaz.hu/

Last year’s festival featured three dramas and as continuation of this ‘tradition’ those interested can get familiar with the scripts of two contemporary Dutch plays this year, too. Judith Herzberg’s play is entitled: Wound.
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