At the beginning of the 1940’s, Bezidul Nou is seemingly still an island of tranquility, as the most diverse religions, denominations, and worldviews get along in an exemplarily peaceful coexistence. Among these, a small Seklar community lives here that, since the Middle Ages, follows Jewish customs. They are the Sabbattarians. During the second half of the 19^th century, most of the converted to Judaism, and, by the time when our story begins, they are Seklars with Jewish religious identity. They coexist undisturbedly with the rest of the village, but, when Transylvania is annexed to Hungary, the politics of Budapest suddenly breaks into their lives. From then on, ethnic origins, and religious identity become a matter of life and death.

Csaba Székely’s The Candles of Righteousness commemorates the ordeal of the people in Bezidul Nou. The author approaches this decidedly staggering subject with profound empathy, and his peculiar sense of humour. We are offered a glance into the existence of a community where everyone have always gotten along with eachother, except for those four years when the authority violently intervened in their lives. The drama tells the story of those four years. The opening of the drama is directed by Aba Sebestyén, with music composed by Tibor Cári.

In addition, also in 2024, it was awarded the Theatre Critics Award by the Association of Theatre Critics in three categories: best institutional theatre performance, best new drama/ best hungarian stage text (Székely Csaba), and best actress in a leading role (B. Fülöp Erzsébet). It was also awarded in the Városmajor Open Air Theatre’s Szemle Plusz programme for the 2023/2024 season, from where the company returned with the audience award for best performance, and B. Fülöp Erzsébet with the recognition for best actress in a leading role.

The performance is in Hungarian. English surtitles can be provided upon request (subject to prior arrangement; please contact us at secretariat@teatrunational.ro).