Play Details

Of the eighty-five people interviewed, only one person knew who the first wife of Nobel Prize-winning writer Imre Kertész was. Albina Vas, born in Subotica, with whom Kertész lived for 42 years. During this time, she supported her husband, believed in his talent and stood behind Kertész until his most famous work was born. Albina spoke seven foreign languages, earned her living with her red nails as a truck driver and then as a waiter.

Who was this great woman, who was already a widow at the age of 16, experienced the Subotica ghetto, then the Gestapo in Pest, and later the Kistarcsa deportation? Her property and apartment were confiscated three times, but no one could take away her vitality, zest for life and ability to love.

The performance was created with the support of the Foundation for Research on Central and Eastern European History and Society, which maintains the Imre Kertész Institute.

Performer: Eszter Csákányi

Dramatist: Lili Fabacsovics
Written by: Anna Sándor
Director: Gábor Czeizel


Premiere: September 14, 2022

Photo: Évi Fábián

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