Death of the Actor

This year is the centenary of the birth of István Örkény, one of the greatest Hungarian writers of the 20th century. He wrote novels and plays as well, but was especially famous for his one-minute short stories, in which he brilliantly captured the peculiarities of everyday life, and even span those in a grotesque way.

Tributes are being paid for the centenary, even though not too much by the official policy makers of culture. Humour is one of  many things the present regime is short of, and Örkény's spirit is as topical as ever these days.

Here follows the adaptation of  one of those one-minute short stories:

István Örkény: Death of the Actor

Today in the afternoon Zoltán Zetelaki, the popular actor collapsed and lost consciousness on one of the side streets of Üllői út.

The passers-by took him to a nearby clinic, but there the doctors tried  to revive him in vain, although they used the newest medical innovations, even an iron lung. The renowned actor passed away at half past six after a long agony. His body was transferred to the Institute of Anatomy.

Tonight's performance of King Lear went undisturbed despite the tragic event. Zetelaki arrived a bit late, and looked conspicuously tired during the first act (sometimes he obviously needed help from the prompter), but then he gradually found his feet, and acted out the death of the king with such cogency that the audience rewarded him with with a roaring applause.

Afterwards he was invited out for dinner, but did not go. He said:

"I had  a rather tough day today."