Less than a three-hour flight away, Budapest has always had plenty to attract Londoners – and this summer, it’s set to be among the top cultural getaways for residents of the capital. Already renowned for its old town including the famed ruin bars and thermal baths and spas, not to mention beach festival Balaton Sound – one of Europe’s largest open-air electronic music festivals – Budapest will now also play host to the 10th Theatre Olympics, a festival taking place from 1st April – 1st July.
With a huge range of shows to see that range from parades of giant puppets, concerts, exhibitions, dance, operetta and live theatre, the 10th Theatre Olympics will take place all over Hungary. From Easter to Midsummer’s night, Budapest and Hungary will become a celebratory meeting point for the world of performance as 400 companies from 58 countries converge to perform in the three-month festival.
Countries from all over Europe and from as far East as Japan and as far West as Mexico will converge on the Hungarian capital. There will be performances of Shakespeare in several different languages, a Japanese take on Ancient Greek tragedies, and a special reading from Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche. Street art will include a Slovakian street circus and a history of Ukraine told with pyrotechnics, and dance includes traditional Hungarian dance and flamenco dancing from Barcelona.
The UK contingent will be represented by some of the biggest names in contemporary theatre and includes Complicité’s production of Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk’s Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead and Cheek By Jowl’s take on Calderón de la Barca’s Spanish Golden Age classic Life is a Dream (La Vida es Sueño).
(Via LondonDailyNews)
