As a young man, Hungarian Andras Tomas was pressganged by the German military, marking the start of his arduous passage. He was taken away from his fiancée, made to fight for a cause he didn't understand and placed in a Siberian mental institution. Presumed mad because no one could understand what he was saying, he wasn't mad at all... just a Hungarian speaking Hungarian.
This is an absurd and near-tragic tale told with great sensitivity and humour by four performers, using physical theatre, puppetry, live music, audience participation and multiple languages to evoke the bittersweet nature of the story. Whilst narrating the drama, three of the male cast assume the various characters that come into Andras' life – Marcella his girl, a German army captain, fellow soldiers and asylum doctors – filling the performance space with visual, physical and verbal action. There is playfulness in their delivery, taking the edge off the disturbing nature of what is conveyed in some scenes.
All elements in this well-produced piece of storytelling work together to take us to a satisfying end. This is the first production to be presented by Anglo-Czech company NIE in the UK – hopefully the first of many.