Drama

Csaba Székely: Mine Flower

Life in a remote little village has always been hard and poor, but poverty doesn’t rob one of dignity. Yet the closure of the life-giving mine challenges this old wisdom. The unemployed Ivan knows this all too well. For two years he has been caring for his bedridden father, who shows no intention of departing this world. Nothing changes, not even when Ivan’s sister Ilonka returns from a brief experience of city life, bringing new energy into the hopelessness. The local doctor, Michal, has gradually slipped from promoting healthy living to alcoholism, but he’s got enough work – suicides in the village seem to be on the rise. What role does the neighbour Eliáš play in all of this? Why is his wife Irma bringing Ivan jars of compotes? And why has Slovak Television arrived in the village? Is there still any chance of change, or is this the crushing heritage of generations?

Székely’s tragicomedy Mine Flower reveals the true reality of life in a village, where people are as tough and strict as the mine itself, yet hide great human wealth within. The author has a deep understanding of the soul of those living on the rural periphery, a world where not only the rumble of mining machines has stopped, but time itself have frozen. The play touches strongly on social themes, yet is laced with gritty black humour in the spirit of the very best works of Martin McDonagh (for example, the play The Beauty Queen of Leenane or the film The Banshees of Inisherin). This production sets the story in the multinational environment of central Gemer, reflected in the specific dialects of the characters. The play was named the best new Hungarian drama of the 2011/2012 season, and this is its first staging in Slovakia.