Pál Mácsai

István Znamenák

Eszter Csákányi

István Ficza

Károly Hajduk

Dominika Rezes

Zsolt Nagy

Nóra Diána Takács

Éva Kerekes

Máté Novkov

Adrián Samudovszky

Andor Szkladányi

Bettina Józsa

Zsombor Kövesi

Márton Patkós

writer: Lili Kemény

consultant: Balázs Sipos

literary expert: Zsuzsa Hetényi

set: Márton Ágh

set assistant: Zsófia Ésik

costume: Dóra Pattantyus

costume assistant: Kitti Vas

choreographer: Gáspár Téri

lighting designer: Tamás Bányai

dramaturgy: Anna Z. Zilahy

music: András Szép

assistant director: Ariadne Érdi

prompter: Zita Kanizsay

director: Balázs Dohy

What has become of the Hungarian intelligentsia over the past twenty-five years? Miklós Faruzsa's case is not even that exceptional; in ten years, he progressed from studying Russian literature to becoming one of our most enigmatic oligarchs.

Upon closer inspection, everything we know seems to be a peculiar kind of madness. The appearance of an overly 'up-to-date' film treatment around the turn of the millennium, to the hardships endured by a diplomatic delegation, public education during the Coronavirus era and a lethal performance piece : in her play written for the Örkény Theatre, Lili Kemény looks back from unlikely angles at the historical upheaval that most of us have experienced.

The Russian Friend is not only the chronicle of a friendship, but also a snapshot of three generations sabotaging and terrorising one another, yet faintly suggesting the hope that the next generation might regain its agency.

premiere: 2025