Peter Handke / Sahin-Tóth Sára: Kaspar
The Best Studio Theater Production of MOST FESZT 2026
“What remains of us and of theater if we strip it of language, the most fundamental tool for constructing a shared reality? The ground vanishes from under our feet—that much is clear—but where will gravity pull us? Will there be a crash?” In Sára Sahin-Tóth’s latest production, inspired by Peter Handke, she brings *Kaspar*—a play many consider anti-theatrical—to the stage with a fresh perspective and powerful performances.
Schedule
Kaspar is the ugly, the incomprehensible, the flawed play. Peter Handke, the writer of “The Word Theatre,” is tempted by wordless theater, and just as Kaspar rethinks language, Handke rethinks theater. Sára Sahin-Tóth and her creative partners work with the author’s instruction of “speech torture” on an experiment that radically rethinks theater, in which text structures become visuals, sentences become sound elements, and everyday objects become tools of manipulation.
“You already have a sentence
with which you can make
yourself known. You can make
yourself known with the sentence
in the dark, so they won’t
think you’re an animal. You have
a sentence with which you
can already tell yourself
everything
you can’t tell others.
You can explain to
yourself how things
stand. You have a
sentence with which you
can already
contradict that very
sentence.”
(excerpt from the play, translated by István Eörsi)
Peter Handke’s play is based on the story of Kaspar Hauser, who was torn from human society. Kaspar grows up isolated from human society from the moment of his birth, so—as if awakening from a coma of amnesia—he must begin his socialization from scratch. Kaspar must redefine himself and the world around him with the help of the Suggestors, who guide his language acquisition and the process of his socialization through various instructions. Through speech, the most fundamental tool of shared reality-making, they push Kaspar toward the RIGHT PATH, as he seeks to understand the phenomena surrounding him by mastering language. However, there are a bewildering number of possibilities and contradictions—and whichever direction he turns, he has not even begun to exist.
Written by: Peter Handke
Translated by: István Eörsi
László Hevesi: Áron Forrai
Áron Forrai: Noémi Juniki
Noémi Juniki: Kornél Laboda
Kornél Laboda: László Hevesi
Scenography: Haibo Illés
Choreography: Sára Korom
Lighting: Ákos Papa Lengyel
Production Manager: Magnum Production
Assistant: Veronika Vajdai
Dramaturg: Lilla Szauer
Director: Sára Sahin-Tóth
Special thanks: Sára Holczer
Trafó House of Contemporary Arts
The Trafó House of Contemporary Arts in Budapest is a unique venue in Hungary, embedded in the international contemporary scene, where different genres - theatre, dance, new circus, music and visual arts - are presented in a unique and authentic way.