Sitting in the corner on a sofa full of smiles. Actress Anna Burros welcomes you. Anna graduated from Kaposvar University with a degree in acting, but as an organizer she also deserves a red degree, because she is able to rally audiences to one goal. Because of his inner inspiration, for example, he organized a Hungarian theater festival in America, and during the pandemic, it provided the opportunity for diverse artists to show their lesser known creative side as well. Studio L! Ve PopUp in Hungary is the basis for these energies.
Graduated as an actor, I first came to New York for a language course, where I began to organize shows and concerts at home with an inner motive. It was my wish that Hungarians living abroad would see the miraculous things we hold together at home.
It begins, is about to end. As if it was the most natural thing in the world he accomplished. But behind humility is dedication, perseverance and years of (voluntary) hard work.
New York became her love at first sight. At that time he was still going to Kaposvár to study acting, to the Mohkes-Znamenak class known for its tenacity. In Anna, the flame of this teamwork lit up as she walked among the skyscrapers and decided that she would show her colleagues a city that would never sleep.
A commemorative party has been prepared for Tamás Cseh for the craft exam, as they have already toured half of Hungary. Referring to this, Anna invited herself to the Hungarian House in New York and to the Hungarian Embassy in Washington. Of course, the story is not so simple, without financial support, the invitation is worth nothing. The ambitious girl lived with her idea for a year until she was able to get enough support for the trip.
István Znamenák launched an anecdote with the department so we could dump our gas on the road, and I visited all the businesses in Kaposvár. I told them that a movie was made about the event, and at the end of it we will list all the supporters. Dániel Tiszeker shot the doku roadmovie from the road, after which we performed in parallel to this gig at the downtown theatre.
During the organization, he met many people and thus solidified his next dream.
After college, he was a member of k2 theater. The way the company operates is distinctive, it’s no wonder they do better than the best. They made a lecture by embracing a topic completely, and thinking together, this professionalism resonates in all of their work. The creative group once decided to give a lecture on Hungarians from the year 56 who immigrated to America, so they went on a week-long study trip.
The trip was also preceded by a lot of organization, which Anna was ready to take on.
I started by going to the American Studies Department at Eötvös Loránd University. I’ve spoken to many people who have all helped a lot, and we got a lot of contacts. I wrote lists and then narrowed the list down to a few people whose stories could be interesting from a theatrical point of view. This list was given to Pence Pinko and Peter Zavada, director and writer of the piece. I also organized where and where to go during our week out.
The climax of the study trip was a show called Moonstone, which was played in the ring. The piece was kneaded from a monologue for five, and the team was really looking forward to bringing the performance back to the storytellers.
So I already had a piece ready to go. But Anna was already thinking about a festival. Partly because as a result of many conversations, he realized that Hungarians living abroad did not have access to contemporary performances at home, and partly because his vision was that if they could get out, magic wouldn’t be created for just one performance. In addition to Moonstone, Orkini’s theater performance The Sheriff on Dohány Street, Concert Concert Performance Research Hands and BEKVART’s Concert (Eszter Bánfalfi Quartet), partly composed of former Kaposvár colleagues, are also included in the bag.
The show met, the sponsors met, and in 2018, after two years of organizing, the first L Festival was born! Ve in Hungary. Shows have been hosted by Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington, Abrons Center for the Arts, La Mama ETC, and Nublu 151 in New York.
Anna Burruss interviewed key players during the organization. Ádám Boncz studied and worked as an actor in America, moving to read György Konrád’s writings at the festival’s expert party, because Robert Alföldi was unable to travel with the production. Esztella Levkó colored the festival program with a workshop on physical theatre. Estella studied acting in England, Estonia, Poland and then Russia.
Anna Poros’ original idea of wanting to play for Hungarians living abroad has changed a bit with Estella and Adam. Thanks to them, the festival audience was also expanded with local residents, and performances were translated.
The festival with the theme of remembrance was a success, and as soon as Anna, Estella and Adam got home, they began organizing the Hungary L! Ve next. They wrote bids, searched for pieces, watched lectures, exchanged ideas, talked to people, until the following program was set: However, the October 2020 pandemic frustrated.
However, there will be a second HLF, scheduled for this year, next spring at the latest. Behind the first festival was the company k2, and the second festival was to be organized by the newly assembled trilogy. Anna left K2 with a piece of her heart because, in addition to rehearsals and performances, it turned out that she had to keep in touch even with the Americans at night due to the time lag, but decided to take the organization seriously. . Esztella and Ádám had just moved home, so the three of them founded the L! Ve Art in Hungary – to have an organization behind them.
Of course, everything has been hibernating due to the virus, but with the pandemic shutting down and almost everything shutting down, more and more opportunities have opened up for Team Hungary L! Ve. They have organized online programs and talks in which professional excellence from around the world can participate. They made a virtual theater, in which they could be anywhere they needed art.
In parallel, Anna had a dream. Art space. A room that can host professional discussions and workshops, where representatives of different branches of art can come together. A place that can accommodate creatives who need a space to practice.
There are two assistants in my life, Zsuzsa Oláh who is behind each project, Gábor Lammel who even funded my first language school trip as a sponsor. Although I still don’t know why he’s done all this since then, I think that trip had the effect of so many wonderful things. I am confident that I was able to make good use of this opportunity. This place, home of Hungary L! Ve, is also his place. A bar of chocolate was closed, so the place became vacant, and knowing what my plan was, it gave us a chance to move in and experiment freely.
Since it was not possible to try from November onwards due to restrictions, Anna wondered what to do with this place, and how to take advantage of this opportunity at the height of the pandemic waves.
He wanted to help out actors, so he created PopUp Store. He was always a fan of fine arts and was aware that he had a lot of colleagues who produced beautiful, creative and artistic things beyond acting. Be it paintings, jewelry, clothing or textiles.
The basic idea came from the fact that as a graduate actor, many expected me to stay on that path. But in the meantime, I care a lot about everything, I love to travel, to travel around the world and to organize. I think most people are versatile talents, and I wanted to motivate my fellow actors to dare to do other things, because if they dare and complete it, it will affect their playing as well. In fact, I did nothing but encourage them and provide them with an interface where they can showcase their work.
This initiative was originally to run until Christmas, but it has also been a huge success on both the creative and overall side. The picture of the place is still developing, in fact now I’m starting to identify the things they can use the extra square meters for. Miracles are sure to happen in Budapest, at 3 Kennedy Street, and even if the walls actually set the boundaries, thanks to Hungary L! Ve and PopUp Store, high society will surely find a home here.
(Cover Image: Bodnár Patrícia / Index)
