The ‘Karaffa’ Competition
In 2023, the year when Veszprém and the Bakony-Balaton Region will be the European Capital of Culture, Hungarians will also celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of their great poet, Sándor Petőfi.
For the anniversary, the Pannon Castle Theatre announced a drama competition to turn a fragment of a Petőfi's play, Karaffa that he never had the chance to finish, into a complete play. The evaluation of the entries, the authors' interviews and the results' announcement took place on World Theatre Day, 27 March 2022.
The Pannon Castle Theatre will present all the completed works in the competition as follows:
- on 18 February 2023, the winning drama written by Balázs Szálinger will premiere at the Pannon Castle Theatre
- a studio performance of János Háy's play will be staged on 22 January 2023, the Day of Hungarian Culture, as part of the opening ceremony of the Year of VEB 2023 European Capital of Culture
- Readings of several other entries, with the participation of authors and actors, will be scheduled at the Spring Festival
Following the premiere performances, the Pannon Castle Theatre will offer all theatres performing in the Hungarian language the opportunity to stage the play during their 2022/2023 or 2023/24 season to celebrate the Petőfi anniversary. In December 2022, Kalligram Publishing House will publish the play in a thousand copies, and access will be provided online for theatres interested in staging the drama.
