It goes back to 1991 when I was a student at London University. I’ve really no idea why I was studying Eastern and Central European politics and history there, but I was. My final year sent me to Budapest, to the Közgáz for ten weeks in the winter of 1991. The Merlin connection started because I did a Harold Pinter short play when I was here. It was all about the impressions of people in remote villages, not to able to speak their language. It just felt like a good thing to do at that time in this region of Europe. So I came to the Merlin to get costumes for the play. I met Magács László and Jordán Tamás and they very kindly took me to the Operahouse. I was amazed how helpful they were considered that they didn’t know me, that I was a complete stranger. So then our romance started, I moved here in 1992 and I lived here in two years.
So you speak a little bit in Hungarian?
I speak it fluently.
So why I’m speaking in English?
Why not? :)
So I was playing at the Merlin in the early 90’s. Then I moved back to England to go to the drama school at London which is a very famous and one of the best drama schools in the UK. That’s where I met Matt, the other half of Madhouse.
You’re from London?
I grew up in London, but my family is Irish. We’re from a beautiful place called Kerry.
Do you like being in Hungary? What do you think about Budapest?
I moved back to Hungary again in 2000, I have a family here. A beautiful wife and a girl who has 16 months. Her name is Emily-Rose. I generally like Budapest. I mean it’s changed a lot through the years. There are things that drive me crazy, but wherever you live in the world it’s the same. I hate the way people drive here, the wild wind and the extreme political movement that has been growing in the last couple of years.
Whose idea was to form your company, the Madhouse?
When Matt and me came back to Hungary in 2000, we did the complete work’s of Shakespeare. We were asked to do a whole season and not just two or three weeks. Jordán Tamás and Magács László said that we should maybe try the Shakespeare for a season to see if there is demand for some Hungarian audiences. So when we decided that we would stay here for a year, we thought it was a good idea to have a sort of small company. So we did and in 2000 we became Madhouse.
Do you prefer to be on the stage only the two of you, or it’s better to play with other actors?
We love in the Madhouse shows that we play many parts. It’s important for us that we can travel occasionally in the neighbouring countries and the organization is much more easier with just the two of us. We love this freedom. So there are a lot of advantages, of course, the other fantastic thing is that we create our own shows as well. We have two shows that we wrote: One Set to Love and Long Tarukin. And also we work so well together, I think that kind of theatre it’s better with just the two of us. But having said that, when we do a play with a bigger cast it’s refreshing and it makes so much change. For example, the atmosphere and the feel. In this case you get to meet other people and different actors too. So we love both, but of course I would have to say that working as Madhouse would be…you know…:)
Your play, the Stones in His Pockets was showed once at the Merlin five years ago. This November you play it again. Is there something new about that?
Well, not a whole lot items. I mean the play, the writting is pretty much the same. We made some small cuts, we kept it fresh, but I wouldn’t said there are any major differences. But interesting thing is that recently I found a copy of the play which was written after the original version of we know. I think it will make some interesting changes. So me and Matt will be getting together to work from some little changes. But because we both been busy with other things in the last few weeks, we haven’t have chance to make it yet. So for the next time…
Maybe another five years later?
Yeah, maybe in 2015. :)
Now I’ll only say some words. I want you to say what comes in your mind!
Magács László
I suppose, along with Jordán Tamás he is very much the reason why we are here. It didn’t happen if the Merlin wasn’t here, if I didn’t come here for those costumes 18 years ago. Then who knows where I be living? He has a huge effect on my life in a way, and also in the life of Madhouse. Without the Merlin I don’t likely we still be in Budapest.
acting female characters
We have great fun with it, and we are very recognizeably women, but we don’t want to fool anybody. It’s great that we can do shows with women characters and tell great stories without the female actors.
shifting characters in seconds
When we first rehearsed Stones in His Pockets it was incredibly hard just to get those changes. It’s great fun, it’s very exciting. I think it’s take the audiance ten or fifteen minutes to display fully what’s happening and who is who. But it is interesting in Stones in His Pockets that we don’t have costume changes, so the character-change happens really sharply.
forget the line during the performance
What? Have ever happened? Never! Very rarely…because we have four different shows so sometimes I think our brain maybe get a little bit confused. But again the great thing with Madhouse, I mean me and Matt’ve known each other for 16 years. Small mistake is made, or if you see a kind of empty look in the other actor’s eyes you know that something is wrong. Then we know and trust each other enough to help each other out. I don’t say that it never happens, but very very rarely.
Matt
Well, he is my best friend, we very soonly met at the drama school. He was only 19, he was a young lad down from Wales. We just have amazing relationship, our friendship became very incredibly strong very quickly. He after all these years says everything to me, we still have Madhouse and still do pretty much everything together, but I have family….:)
Do you plan a new play with Madhouse?
Well, absolutely! Fingers crossed, Magács László very kindly offered us to do something new at the second half of the year. In fact, he mentioned last week that we need to make our start to coming up with ideas quiet soon. So hopefully in the early spring we’ll have a new Madhouse show in brain. I think one idea will become a whole play. So we will see it in the next season!
interview by hajdú eszter
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