Adaptations of Jókai’s novels in the 1910s

Sándor Hevesi’s premieres at the Magyar Theatre

Abstract

This study explores the circumstances surrounding the premieres of Jókai’s novels Az új földesúr (The New Landlord), Egy magyar nábob (A Hungarian Nabob), Kárpáthy Zoltán (Zoltán Kárpáthy), A kőszívű ember fiai (The Baron’s Sons), which were adapted for the stage by Sándor Hevesi and performed at the Magyar Theatre in the 1910s, as well as the critical reception of those performances. In preparation for the management of the Magyar Theatre, László Beöthy announced a triple playwriting competition for which entries were expected from adaptations of Ferenc Herczeg’s Szíriusz (Sirius), Kálmán Mikszáth’s novel Szent Péter esernyője (St. Peter’s Umbrella), and Jókai’s Az új földesúr. Hevesi entered the contest with his stage adaptation of Az új földesúr, and although it was judged the best, his winning work was not premiered until six years later. And because the audience then received the play with enthusiasm and love, the author began dramatising other works by Jókai, and thus four novels by the romantic writer-prince were staged at the Magyar Theatre between 1913 and 1918.