HÁY, JÁNOS – A GÉZAGYEREK
HÁY, JÁNOS – A GÉZAGYEREK
Stone Watcher
(2000. God drama in 2 acts, prose.Characters: 7 men, 4 women)
Auntie Rózsika, a village widow, is raising alone her autistic son, Géza. The child’s days go by in monotony, in the loneliness of his home. He is unemployed, because his doctor believes he would be incapable of doing a responsible job. The life of the village dwellers also flows by in the same monotony, in the triangle of the quarry in Szob, the village pub and their homes. Laci, the manager of the quarry visits Rózsika, to offer a job to Géza. The new German owner requires a security guard to oversee the work of the conveyor belt, since they can be held liable in case of a accident. Laci had already procured a disused bus driver’s seat, had it installed above the conveyor belt, and is ready to place Géza in the seat. His job is only to keep watching the stones and, in case of an emergency, stop the belt by pushing a big button. A day comes, when he needs to do exactly that.
János Háy was born on 1 April 1960 in Vámosmikola. He studied at the university of Szeged, with a double major of Russian and history, followed by studies of aesthetics at ELTE. He worked for several publishers as an editor, while he kept publishing his poems and short prose. His first dramatic work was Géza Boy (The Stonewatcher), adapted from his earlier short story, with sweeping success. He was also awarded the prize for best new drama in the 2001/2002 theatrical season. Hay’s plays are linked by a similar world view, setting and dialogue technique: the characters placed in rural environment are all dispossessed, fallen figures, but the emphasis is put no on the representation of their everyday struggles, but on the expression of solidarity with these people. The drama of the petty people almost becomes a mythological account.