Forming the backbone of the piece are nine of Petőfi's poems set to pop music, each the work of a different Hungarian popular music act bringing their own musical conceptions from a variety of genres and commissioned by the Foundation for Research on Central and Eastern European History and Society. The performances by 4S Street, Aurevoir., DÁNIELFY, Márk Ember, Paulina, Romengo, Sena, Captain Trap and THA SHUDRAS, as well as The Biebers, are also an integral part of the show, as it is these songs, along with prose text, that comprise this theater production titled Freedom and Love - Petőfi 200. The piece was developed for a double cast: with Vivianne Bánovits playing the role of Júlia Szendrey, Nándor Berettyán appearing as Petőfi, and István Berecz as the narrator. The script for the production was written by Zsolna Ugron, the artistic director of the Imre Kertész Institute, using the works of Júlia Szendrey, Sándor Petőfi and Endre Ady. The idea of freedom lies at the centre of both Sándor Petőfi's life and his poems, which remind us of this fact again and again. We know from those who have sacrificed their lives for freedom that liberty is one of the greatest guarantees of the common good in the history of humankind, one for which we must constantly work and act. Petőfi teaches us to be proud and unyielding, and to always have sufficient courage to both want and be able to remain free.

Presented by: Müpa Budapest, Foundation for Research on Central and Eastern European History and Society