Bessenyei Gedő István

Education:
2012 – PhD candidate – Doctoral School, University of Arts Târgu Mureș
2010 –2012 Master’s programme in Directing – University of Arts Târgu Mureș, Faculty of Theatre Arts
2009 – 2010 Bachelor’s programme in Theatre Studies – University of Arts Târgu Mureș, Faculty of Theatre Arts
2006 – 2009 Bachelor’s programme in Theatre Studies – Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Theatre and Film, Cluj-Napoca
2005 – 2008 Bachelor’s programme in Hungarian–English Studies – Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Letters, Cluj-Napoca
2001 – 2005 Mathematics and Computer Science – Reformed High School, Satu Mare
1993 – 2001 Intensive English Programme – No. 10 Primary School, Satu Mare

Degrees and Qualifications:
Master’s Degree (MA) – University of Arts Târgu Mureș, Master’s Programme in “The Art of Directing”
Master’s thesis: Death, Where Is Thy Sting? (Dedramatizing Tendencies in the Directing of Attila Vidnyánszky) Supervisor: Dr Ildikó Ungvári Zrínyi
Production analysis: “Let Fate Ripen Within You” (An analysis of the production Puppets, based on Ernő Szép’s The Ventriloquist)
Supervisor: Dr Éva Patkó
Bachelor’s Degree (BA) – University of Arts Târgu Mureș, Theatre Studies
Bachelor’s thesis: Holocaust Representation in Postdramatic Theatre (Postdramatic characteristics in the production De Kamp by Hotel Modern: puppet bodies, stylisation, intermediality)
Supervisor: Dr Ildikó Ungvári Zrínyi.
Secondary School Leaving Qualifications

Positions Held in Theatre:
2014 – present Artistic Director, Harag György Theatre Company
2012 – 2014 – PR Manager and Dramaturg, Harag György Theatre Company
2011 –  Dramaturg, Harag György Theatre Company, Northern Theatre of Satu Mare

Other Positions:
2025 - present President, MASZÍN – Hungarian Theatre Association
2019-present Member, Theatre Studies Committee of the Cluj-Napoca Academic Committee
2019-present President, Proscenium Foundation
2018-present President, Ethics Committee, Northern Theatre of Satu Mare
2017-present Founding Executive President, MASZÍN – Hungarian Theatre Association
2014- present President, Artistic Council, Harag György Theatre Company
2012 – 2014 Member, Artistic Council, Harag György Theatre Company

Festival Management and Selection:
2026 – Festival selector, National Theatre Meeting (OSZT)
2026 – Festival Director, MaFeszt, the festival of MASZÍN – Hungarian Theatre Association
2025 – Co-organiser, 4th BukFeszt – Festival of Hungarian Theatres in Romania
2024 – Festival Director, 11th Interethnic Theatre Festival (IFeszt)
2024 – Co-organiser, 3rd BukFeszt – Festival of Hungarian Theatres in Romania
2023 – Co-organiser, 2nd BukFeszt – Festival of Hungarian Theatres in Romania
2022 – Festival Director, 10th Interethnic Theatre Festival (IFeszt)
2022 – Co-founder and co-organiser, BukFeszt – Festival of Hungarian Theatres in Romania
2018- Festival Director, Tranzit Feszt International Theatre Festival; selector of Hungarian-language productions
2017 – Festival Director, first MaFeszt, the festival of MASZÍN – Hungarian Theatre Association
2017- Festival Director, Tranzit Feszt International Theatre Festival; selector of Hungarian productions
2016 – Festival Director, 8th Interethnic Theatre Festival
2013 – Selector of Hungarian-language productions for the 7th Without Barriers International Multicultural Theatre Festival

Theatre Work:
Director:
Fazekas–Móricz–Bessenyei: Ludas Matyi in Satu Mare, Northern Theatre of Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2023/24
Zágon–Nóti–Eisemann: Hippolyt, the Butler, Northern Theatre of Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2018/19
Puppets, Northern Theatre of Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2011/12

Dramaturg:
Maxim Gorky: Children of the Sun, directed by Bálint Botos, National Theatre Târgu Mureș, Tompa Miklós Company, 2025/26
Zoltán Egressy: Portuguese, directed by Marcel Bélai, Csokonai National Theatre, Debrecen, 2025/26
William Shakespeare: Richard III, directed by István Albu, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2024/25
Géza Páskándi: Pornocracy, directed by István K. Szabó, Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj, 2024/25
Frederick Loewe – Alan Jay Lerner: My Fair Lady, directed by Andrei Șerban, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2023/24
Mihály Vörösmarty: Csongor and Tünde, directed by Sardar Tagirovsky, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2020/21
Brigitte Schwaiger: At Your Command, My Führer!, directed by Sorin Militaru, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2018/19
Federico García Lorca: The House of Bernarda Alba, directed by Sorin Militaru, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2017/18
Werner Schwab: The Presidents, directed by Sorin Militaru, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2016/17
István Örkény: The Tóts, directed by Sorin Militaru, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2015/16
Albert Szirmai – Károly Bakonyi – Andor Gábor: Miska the Magnate, directed by István Bessenyei, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2015/16
Anton Chekhov: The Seagull, directed by Sorin Militaru, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2015/16
I. L. Caragiale: The Lost Letter, directed by Sorin Militaru, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2014/15
Mihály Eisemann – László Szilágyi: Me and My Little Brother, directed by István Bessenyei, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2014/15
József Ratkó: Help the King!, directed by Csaba Tasnádi and Szilárd Kányádi, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2013/14
Mihály Eisemann – Gyula Somogyi – István Zágon: Black Peter, directed by István Bessenyei, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2013/14
Mihály Fazekas – Zsigmond Móricz – István Bessenyei: Ludas Matyi in Satu Mare, directed by István Bessenyei, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2012/13
Paul Schönthan – Franz Schönthan – Dezső Kellér – Jenő Horváth – Iván Szenes: The Abduction of the Sabine Women, directed by Szilárd Kányádi, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2012/13
Bertolt Brecht – Paul Dessau: Mother Courage and Her Children, directed by Márta Vargyas, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2012/13
William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Attila Keresztes, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2011/12
Dés – Nemes – Böhm – Horváth – Korcsmáros: Somewhere in Europe, directed by Attila Balogh, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2011/12

Assistant Director:
Zsigmond Móricz: Relatives, directed by László Babarczy, Northern Theatre Satu Mare, Harag György Theatre Company, 2013/14
Molière: Scapin the Schemer, directed by Silviu Purcărete, Csokonai Theatre, Debrecen, 2011/12
István Békeffy: Confession of a Woman Murderer, directed by Levente Kovács, Studio Theatre, University of Arts Târgu Mureș, 2009/10

Interpreter:
Molière: Scapin the Schemer, directed by Silviu Purcărete, Csokonai Theatre, Debrecen, 2011/12

Intern:
Imre Madách: The Tragedy of Man, directed by Attila Vidnyánszky, Szeged Open-Air Festival, 2011 – assistant director intern
Zhukovsky–Szénási–Lénárd: Fantastic Men with Wings, directed by Attila Vidnyánszky, Csokonai Theatre, Debrecen, 2010/11 – intern

University Productions: 
Tennessee Williams: Talk Like the Rain and Let Me Listen, University of Arts Târgu Mureș, 2010/11
Bertolt Brecht: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, University of Arts Târgu Mureș, 2010/11
William Shakespeare: Hamlet, University of Arts Târgu Mureș, 2010/11

Workshopos:
Dramaturg, Assistant Director: Chekhov: The Seagull (workshop), directed by Attila Keresztes, University of Arts Târgu Mureș, 2010/11
Dramaturg: Chekhov: The Seagull (workshop), directed by Csaba Kiss, Babeș-Bolyai University, Faculty of Theatre and Television, 2008/09

Publications:
2021 – Ungvári Zrínyi, Ildikó – Kricsfalusi, Beatrix (eds.): Body – Power – Institution: Transformations in the Structure of Theatrical Publicity in Transylvania, EIKON–UartPress, Bucharest–Târgu Mureș (co-author)
2021  – Csaba Csirák: Twenty-Nine Theatre Seasons in Satu Mare: The History of Hungarian Theatre in Satu Mare between 1919 and 1948, Profundis, Satu Mare (editor, foreword)
2018  – Bessenyei Gedő, István (ed.) et al.: Sixty-Five Years of Chronicle. The History of the Harag György Theatre Company, published by the Harag György Theatre Company of the Northern Theatre of Satu Mare and the Proscenium Foundation, Profundis, Satu Mare 
2016 – Bessenyei Gedő, István – Coleff, Doina: When the Curtain Rises (The History of the Northern Theatre of Satu Mare), Regio Series, Municipality of Satu Mare, Argonaut, Cluj-Napoca, 2016 (co-author)
2013 – Postdramatic Characteristics in the Directing of Silviu Purcărete, Theatron XII.1 (Spring), pp. 68–85
The Puppets of De Kamp, Játéktér, II.1, pp. 36–43
“Death! Where Is Thy Sting? (Dedramatizing Tendencies in the Directing of Attila Vidnyánszky)”, Part I, Szcenárium, Vol. I, No. 2 (October), pp. 5–25
“Death! Where Is Thy Sting? (Dedramatizing Tendencies in the Directing of Attila Vidnyánszky)”, Part II, Szcenárium, Vol. I, No. 3 (November), pp. 24–43
2012 – Interview with Set and Costume Designer Judit Dobre-Kóthay, published in Szatmári Friss Újság, Szatmár.ro, Theater Online
Back on the Satu Mare Stage After Three Years (interview with József Czintos), published in Szatmári Friss Újság, Szabadság, Krónika, Új Magyar Szó, Szatmár.ro, Hamlet.ro
Satu Mare, the Feeling of Being at Home (interview with Réka Csutak and Zsolt Bogdán), Szatmár.ro; shortened version published in Szatmári Magyar Hírlap
2010 – “Let This Song Not Be the One Twenty Years from Now” (on the Târgu Mureș production 20/20), Látó Literary Journal, March issue 
2008 – Zsuzsa Selyem et al.: Speaking Out – On Stage (conversation with the creators of Long Friday) – editor, foreword and transcription. Látó Literary Journal, Theatre Issue (August–September, Színházlátó) 
2007 – The Way God Plays Chess, Korunk, November
2006 − The Theatre of Satu Mare in Kisvárda – series of reports, reviews and interviews on the Kisvárda Festival, published in Szatmári Magyar Hírlap
2006 – Guide to the Future (on issues raised at the Kisvárda Festival) – report published in Krónika 
2004 – Visitor, in Memory of Katalin Rooth, Hepehupa
2003  – Poems, A Céh.
Reviews and articles in Szatmári Friss Újság
2007- Theatre reviews in Szatmári Magyar Hírlap since 2007
Poems and short prose in the anthologies of the Szilágyi Domokos Literary Circle, LIM and Hármashatár

Editor:
2018 – Bessenyei Gedő, István et al. (eds.): Sixty-Five Years of Chronicle, Profundis Publishing House, Satu Mare, 2018 
2013 – Csirák, Csaba et al.: Sixty Years of Chronicle, Profundis Publishing House, Satu Mare, 2013

Drama Pedagogy Activities:
2009-2018    Kraszna Theatre Camp – instructor
2008 Jibou International Folk Music, Folk Dance, Arts and Crafts and Theatre Camp, Șimleu Silvaniei – theatre group instructor

Festivals:
2010 - Studio Festival, Târgu Mureș (Confession of a Woman Murderer, assistant director)
2009 - Colloquium of Minority Theatres in Romania, Gheorgheni – professional internship
2006 - Festival of Hungarian Theatres Beyond the Borders, Kisvárda – festival correspondent for the cultural journal Művelődés.

Previous Activities:
2006–2007 Member of the Láthatatlan Kollégium (Invisible College), the theatre criticism student college of the Faculty of Letters, Babeș-Bolyai University. Academic mentors: István Berszán, Zsuzsa Selyem, Levente T. Szabó
2002 - 2005 Member of the Szilágyi Domokos Literary Circle
2001 - 2005 Founding member and leader of the Nádai István Theatre Group, Reformed High School, Satu Mare
2001 - 2003 Member of the Hármashatár Literary Society and LIM