Anyone walking by the Trafó House of Contemporary Arts might find it a bit hard to recognise. The team here has added a green, steel-framed wing facing the street, and a cosy café filled with plants, while the creative workspace has been expanded. An exciting autumn programme awaits – kicking off with contemporary American drama.
According to technical director Zsolt Haraszti, they’ve been working on a lightweight structure solution since 2019, but only received authorisation to begin the construction this summer.
Everything was carried out using their own resources and finances: the new space of 190 square metres features a larger foyer and cloakroom, a long-needed storage room and wheelchair-accessible bathrooms. The two-storey structure leads up to the expanded small hall, where a reading rehearsal was taking place at the time of our visit. Head outside, and you see a lovely terrace and green roof.
The new season has just been introduced in the new, trendy, plant-filled café, seven premières, two concerts and an exhibition all taking place at Trafó, almost like any other year. Contemporary American dystopian drama The Nether (A Menedék) is being presented in Hungarian on 4-5 September, recent performances acclaimed in London’s West End and at prestigious theatres across the States. The autumn will then see other theatrical, musical, dance and slam poetry events as well. Details here.
To close the presentation, a small awards ceremony honoured the best creators, performers and pieces in contemporary dance with the Rudolf Lábán Award, and the best theatrical performances with the Péter Halász Award. These included Emese Cuhorka and Csaba Molnár for Masterwork, and the Collective Dope and Jenna Jalonen for BEAT – ‘I just wish to feel you’, while the Halász award went to the Mesebolt Bábszínház and the Kőszegi Várszínház, Dávid Somló and Imre Vass, the K2 Theatre, the Örkény Theatre, Klára Cserne, as well as Igor and Ivan Buharov.
