JOHANNA

JOHANNA (2023)

Orsolya Fodor's “vision-lecture performance” was made possible thanks to the Freeszfe Theatre and Performance Studies program in the empty pool of the CEU Conference Center. The theme of the performance, which is interspersed with autobiographical elements, is a case study of a religiously disabled person's search for identity. Johanna is Orsolya Fodor's first work in which she registers as both creator and performer. After her diploma work Orlando, which also served as the basis for her thesis research, this is a next step in her exploration of the sacrality of space through theatrical and performative action.

Alors tu dis que je suis une sainte
Mais ce n'est pas moi
J'entends des voix
Mais ce n'est pas moi
Je ne suis pas Jeanne d'Arc

"And Orsolya Fodor knows very well what theatre is, what performance is, what effect is; she knows or she feels, it doesn't matter, the point is that we feel it. Because that's what made the whole thing really elementary: that Orsi targeted all our senses, hit and stunned us. The twelve of us - like disciples - follow her into the tiny, dark rooms of the CEU basement, huddled together like brothers and sisters sharing what they have received, while the church music, at once overwhelming and yet soul-penetrating, plays, Orsi/Johanna purified in the hot water, and all we feel is the steam, the hot steam, which at the time seems to be a very well-timed effect, easy to get caught up in, as is the way in good theatre, you sit back and get caught up, only in retrospect do we remember the warmth of the bonfire. The actress then leads a procession, we all march behind Jeanne, who is projected on a mobile projector, singing in a voice you can't believe, you are hearing a fragile woman, not a full choir, but even the space is designed to have perfect acoustics, with the CEU pool not working since the cuts, everything echoing in a gulf, and it is cathartic, not just theatre, but a visceral experience. " - critic Bálint Kovács

Details: https://www.freeszfe.hu/johanna/
Photos: THEALTER Festival, 2023
Press coverage: Tilos Rádió - Zarándokok: Johannaságunk

Photo: Tamás Cseke