King Matthias and the judge of Cluj-Napoca

“We haven’t had such a good king since…” – this is the refrain of the Matthias song in Ferenc Buda’s poem. This is a sentence often repeated not only by the puppeteers of the Lilliput Company but in the tales of story-tellers, and in the songs of minstrels similar sentences can be heard for ages. According to historians, with his devious diplomacy, leaning on his famous-infamous Black Army, Matthias Hunyadi established a strong central rule (the burden of the taxes cannot be ignored). Still King Matthias has remained the most righteous king in the folk tales of Hungarian people.

In our play not only the ill-mannered judge of Cluj-Napoca is taught a lesson by the king but we evoke his military deeds and adventures in disguise, with the music of the period and the special instruments of puppet theatre.

Cast of characters:

Premier: 2011.12.11