Shadow Fate – Theatre Performance for the Day of Hungarian Culture

The drama is based on the diary ‘Our Life Path’ by Sarolta Botka, wife of Kuno von Klebelsberg. Through her perspective, the audience can get a glimpse into the daily life of this exceptional politician and his love and marriage, revealing a tableau of the 20th century’s dramas—from the fall of the Monarchy and Trianon, through the two world wars, to communist deportation. Sarolta’s viewpoint illuminates Klebelsberg’s human character and achievements, while her post-WWII ordeals as a widow highlight the paradoxical cruelty of communism.

Following her successful drama Ilona Zrinyi, Mária Hedry brings this tumultuous life to the stage: Klebelsberg’s figure and his era’s contradictions take center stage through Sarolta’s lonely fate. The play draws on scholarly research—including works by Gábor Ujvári, István Bethlen, and Ignác Romsics—alongside contemporary sources, enriched by the author’s imagination.

Count Kuno von Klebelsberg (1875–1932) was a defining cultural politician of interwar Hungary. As Minister of Religion and Public Education (1922–1931), he implemented reforms to address Trianon losses: building thousands of rural schools, modernising universities, promoting folk education, and founding overseas cultural institutes (Collegium Hungaricum) for national survival.

The 80-minute, one-act performance will be performed in Hungarian with English subtitles.