The interview

Mr. Schwajda's office is located at the third floor of the theater building, and has a wide view across the Danube river. As one can see when looking down, some work is still being done on the surroundings of the backside of the theater. Work is still in progress on a concrete shape resembling the biblical tower of Babel: the Zikurat, that is to be part of the garden. The theater itself, however, is perfectly finished, and everything inside looks bright and shiny new. We're sitting on a sofa in a comfortable setting for a short interview about the play, "The Tempest".

It's the day after the final rehearsal - with selected audience - that has marked the first time a public has witnessed the show on which Mr. Schwajda and his team have worked so hard. The show - as it happens with dress rehearsals - had suffered some technical glitches, but everyone seems optimistic for the public performance that will happen in the evening. Mr. Schwajda is as calm as can be. And it's hard to imagine he is ever any different.

- Is there a specific reason to choose the Tempest as your opening play for this theater?
"There are basically three reasons. The first is that I really like the play. The second is that the play contains wonderful and miraculous elements. The new stage technique that is designed especially for the new theater is really unique. So it is suitable to show all the miraculous elements of the play. Finally, as you may have heard, this was supposedly the last play by Shakespeare... I started building up this theater and recently, in a way, finished it. This piece represents my last piece to be put on stage, and I am in a way saying goodbye to the theater in a similar way as Shakespeare did."

- This means you consciously chose a play that has an emphasis on using audio-visual means to present the play. Did you ever do something like this before?
"I haven't had a theater like this before, it wasn't possible in the past."

The stage should be seen to fully appreciate this fact. It's one thing to see the stage reshape into a staircase that lifts each step into position only moments before the actors step on to it to further ascend. But the moment you have gotten used to those mechanics, the very same floor starts to elegantly rotate a number of frozen characters around the stage. All without making a noise to interfere with the music or acting.

- How important is the music for this play?
"We use it in a lot, it is really used a lot. When I originally asked Vangelis to write music for the Tempest, I asked for a 20 or 25 minute long piece. But it's much longer. It was originally I think 70 minutes long and then he added something else to it. But I don't know how much of this musical composition is used because that's the responsibility of Frederick Rousseau and musical director György Selmeczi. But it's much longer than we originally set out for."

- How did you work with Vangelis? Did you give him directions, or were you perhaps inspired the other way around, by the music?
"We met in Athens, just before Christmas and spent two days together. There we discussed my ideas about Shakespeare and the Tempest. On the 2nd of January rehearsals started in the theater. There was basically a 3 month period for Vangelis to write his piece. That resulted in the first 70 minutes of music. A few weeks later another piece was sent over that was about 2 and a half minutes long. And the wedding scene, which you saw yesterday, this piece of music was brand new. It was sent just a week ago. So he was constantly working on it."

"He is really inspired by the figure of Prospero. That's what Vangelis was really interested in."

- So the music was written based on your ideas and then when you received it, the results were used to underscore the play?
"Vangelis didn't write for a concrete performance. He was inspired by Shakespeare, and "The Tempest" as a drama. These two factors inspired him. And then he wrote the music which we used in the performance."

- Almost as if you were using pre-existing music?
"He wrote it on his own, but it was directly written for this play. It has never been written before and he didn't use any of his older compositions. It's brand new."

Interesting to note about the way the music is used here is the fact that sometimes it seems as if the music is not just a form of story telling but is actually a part of the world that is portrayed on the stage. Not only can some of the characters seemingly hear it at times, but they can even interrupt its performance with a gesture. Something that happens more than once.

- Is there a reason to break this barrier between music as background and music appearing in the play itself, as part of the proceedings? It is almost as if the actors can hear it or control it. Is the music almost part of the story itself?
"You saw that quite well, because the actors' performances, the stage and the lighting give a sort of harmony..." He pauses and smiles: "Yesterday it was not so obvious but it is getting better and better."

- There are also times when the actors start singing. Did Vangelis compose the melodies as well, and did you request for these songs to be included?
"As we discussed earlier, all of the music that is heard is composed by Vangelis. He divided his piece into 11 parts. The second part of this musical composition is used as the so-called Ariel lines. And what she sings are basically the lines that Shakespeare wrote. She sings Shakespeare's lines along with the music. And it's recurring in the piece."

- Is this a common way to handle this play (The Tempest)?
"Originally Shakespeare wrote, or marked, these parts as songs. So it's sung everywhere. Just not necessarily to this music because this is brand new. So these are pieces of songs that Shakespeare wrote."

- Music is a powerful force to express emotions. The actors are also transferring their emotions to the audience. Were you ever afraid of using music in a play?
"I was not afraid at all, because as you know the history of theater itself involves music and prose parts of the pieces together. The old Greek tragedies used to have many parts sung. And Shakespeare himself has notes on his manuscripts that these parts should be sung. The wedding part for example in the play is especially a musical part. It is now kind of new, as you mentioned that theatrical performances really got divided. You've got musicals and purely prose pieces: dramas. But it's not a new idea to involve music and actors performances in one play."

- The performance as a whole is, in a way, very much an audio-visual spectacle. For instance, even though we don't speak Hungarian, we still loved watching it. Do you think maybe it is also possible to present this in a more international way, to foreign people or maybe in other countries?
"We cannot really go on tour with this piece, because of the theater. It's absolutely unique in Europe. So, there is no other stage in Europe that is suitable to present "The Tempest" or any other piece or drama in this way, with all this lighting and stage technique. Because it was designed especially for this theater and it is unique."

Is the play becoming what you want it to be, are you satisfied?
"What people imagine can never be carried out, unfortunately. If I could start from the beginning, I would probably do many things differently. But to clear the picture we must admit that this is a really new stage. We just moved into the building three months ago, and we would have needed a longer period to really try out what this stage could do. If I had more time I would try to do different things."

- As you explained, it is your final play to direct. Are you going to be doing other things, or are you really retiring? Can we expect to see you in other fields?
"My real job is a drama writer, and when I retire I would like to write.".

That evening, the play is performed in front of a public audience. Things indeed do go more smoothly, where audio as well as lighting are concerned. When the performance comes to an end, it receives an endless ovation. The actors look as if they are slightly relieved at the warm goodbye that the audience delivers. Mr. Schwajda is not on stage and as such his reaction cannot be seen. But one can imagine him somewhere behind the stage catching a glimpse of the audience's reaction. And, hopefully, he joins in their satisfaction.