In 2010, during a theatre education camp held for youngsters, Osonó Theatre asked its participants to share some of the everyday social, domestic or personal issues that they had encountered or had observed. The 12 youngsters collected 78 problems and then jointly reflected on these during the workshops, so these stories gave a basis for the script. This joint “harvesting” and the subsequent work resulted in the production, As water reflects the face. Due to the above-described creative process, the thematic framework of the performance is based on the personal stories of these youngsters, thus it deals with the social problems affecting young people, the situation of lonely children, helpless parents, and vulnerable youngsters.
Over the years, the performance has been fine-tuned in a lot of ways, but the basic
form and message remained the same. Through musical inserts, a virtuoso chat room conversation, mantra-like passages and silent scenes, the mosaic structure offers a glimpse into the lives, conflicts and struggles of youngsters, parents and teachers. Both explicitly and allegorically, it depicts everyday violence, a sense of longing, a hunger for love, frustrations and the lack of understanding between generations.
Fazakas Misi actor, director and drama instructor.
He graduated in 2000 from the Acting Faculty at the University of Theatre Arts of Târgu Mures, then at the same university in 2006 he got a degree in Theatre Education and Pedagogy and in 2007 his Master’s degree in Contemporary Directing.
After graduation, between 2000 and 2007 he was working as an actor at the Tamási Áron Theatre in Sfântu Gheorghe, and simultaneously, in 2000, he founded the drama department at the Plugor Sándor Art Lyceum in Sfântu Gheorghe, where he continues to be head of the department, acting teacher and leader of the theatre education programmes held for secondary school students. From 2000 until today he is the leader, director and trainer of Osonó Theatre.
Since 2014, he is organiser and trainer of theatre education programmes for adults at the School of Arts and Folklore in Sfântu Gheorghe. As an instructor, he has specialised in theatre education workshops and camps. From 2000 to date, he has organised a total of 93 drama camps, where he also worked as camp leader and trainer, starting from Bangkok, through Morocco, to several countries in Europe. He conducts around 120 theatre education sessions per year for both youngsters and adults. His work as a director and teacher has been rewarded with 55 national and international awards.
Under his leadership, Osonó Theatre, a company active on the fields of independent theatre, theatre in education and social projects, has received numerous professional awards, the most important of which are the Csokonai Vitéz Mihály Community Award from the Ministry of National Resources in 2012 and the Charlemagne Youth Prize, awarded by the European Parliament in 2016. The theatre company became a European Talent Point in 2017.
As a director he has worked on the creation of several forum and documentary theatre productions with Osonó Theatre. The most important purpose of his work is to create a situation where people can get to know themselves more profoundly, face their own problems and traumas and thus get closer to themselves and to each other. Another important objective he represents through the workshops, performances and post-performance audience assemblies is to experience the Encounter, to initiate collective thinking and to bring the Theatre to settlements and communities who never or just very rarely meet theatre companies.
Among the performances he has directed it is worth to highlight 'As Water Reflects the Face', which premiered in 2011, is still on the repertoire today and has been performed nearly 600 times in 190 settlements of 24 countries on 3 continents. The starting point for the performance was inspired by a drama camp where the 12 participating youngsters formulated a total of 78 different problems they were facing in relation to society, family, school and themselves. This was the point at which he decided, as a director, that it was necessary to talk about these issues, so the piece came to be based on the personal stories of youngsters. It became clear during the rehearsal process that the situation of youngsters could not be discussed in itself, but that the problems of adults, the elderly and teachers must also be considered, and that is how the performance became a mirror reflecting our times.