Dramatics in French

Since 1983, a course in “drama games” has been an integral part of the language education curriculum at the Department of French Studies at the University of Debrecen (formerly Lajos Kossuth University) Faculty of Arts. The point of this course is to introduce creative games into practical foreign language instruction. Dr. Tivadar Gorilovics, the director of the department at the time, viewed this experiment with great sympathy and supported it. This alternative education program laid the foundation for the activities of the École des Bouffons, the French theater group that formed in the years following the introduction of the program. Judit Lukovszki was the director of the group and the person in charge of the drama games courses. For nearly 20 years (until the Bologna Process went into effect), the members of the theater troupe, performing exclusively in French, were always the most outstanding young adults who could take on tasks exceeding the usual student workload, and, in association with other students with artistic ambitions and aptitude, they embarked on interesting theatrical adventures. The fact that they were invited to numerous university theater gatherings where they were able to perform well enough to win several ministerial and intergovernmental tenders can be regarded as recognition of the group’s work, as can the regular support from the student government of the Faculty of Arts. The group can be credited with the organization of three highly successful international university theater gatherings in Debrecen. In addition to performing playful adaptations of classic texts, they also selected works from the repertoire of modern experimental theater.

Performances by the École des Bouffons French-language university theater (locations of traveling performances in parentheses):

1985 Musset: La nuit vénitienne

1986 Labiche: Le clou aux maris

1987 Marivaux: Les deux Pierrot

1988 Florian: Les deux billets (Lille, Brest)

1989 Labiche: La main leste

1990 Moliere: La jalousie de Barbouillé, Le médecin volant

1991 Marivaux: Les acteurs de bonne foi

1992 Ionesco: La cantatrice chauve (Budapest, Brüsszel, Leuven)

1993 Arrabal: Fando et Lis

1994 Beckett: En attendant Godot

1995 Ionesco: La soif et la faim (Angers)