Krétakör put in a bid for Bárka Theatre. The relationship between artistic director János Csányi and the Bárka ensemble had soured, they would have prefered me to take his place. The application was rejected not for professional reasons, but because the former director's political ties were much stronger than ours. In a strange twist of fate, it was only the far right MIÉP that voted for us. We planned to put in a bid for the newly opened National Theatre as well, promising to get the famous Bulgarian wrap artist Christo to wrap the tastelessly designed building. In the end we decided not to submit the application.

We began to experiment with a completely new theatre style for us while Georg Büchner’s Leonce and Lena was in production. The whole production took place in the Thalia Old Studio, on a small piece of carpet 3m2 in size. I wanted to incorporate drama pedagogical elements into the production. We asked Erik Szauder (now-deceased) to assist us during the preparation phase, but in the end we didn't use the method because we were not ready yet for a pedagogy-based interaction.

Things weren’t looking up for Krétakör Theatre in Hungary. We still had not received any substantial government funding, moreover two of our members, Sándor Csányi and András Vinnai decided to move on and left the company. I felt it was quite unfair, that even after all our success we still had not really been able to put down roots in Budapest, I was already contemplating shutting the company down, when help arrived unexpectedly from Patrick Sommier who had been the director of MC93 Bobigny Theatre from 2000, and had previously invited Nexxt, Liliom, The Possessed and W – Workers’ Circus to Paris. When he heard about our situation, he offered to give one third of their annual budget to Krétakör in exchange for the rights to tour the production in France. It goes without saying that we accepted his offering.

Thanks to the permanent support coming from France, we were able to set up the later legendary Krétakör Theatre Company. The permanent team included actors, administrators and a technical crew. Everyone received a salary and we even had an office. This is when József Gyabronka, Zoltán Mucsi and Péter Scherer joined us from Bárka Theatre as well as Katona’s Eszter Csákányi and Roland Rába, and Tilo Werner from Schaubühne in Berlin, who we had met the year before at a workshop.

We created Fatherland, my all…  during an immensely productive creative camp. I co-wrote the play with István Tasnádi. It was my first attempt at political theatre. The production premiered at Theatre and Art Base in Zsámbék where I experienced for the very first time a political insult. Fidesz-sympathisers and nationalist provocators hid in the audience and proceeded to disrupt the performance in a variety of ways. For example, one angry audience member poured a tin of fish over me. The production was later put on stage at the Capital Circus of Budapest and we hired extra security personnel for that occasion fearing a possible far-right attack. To be honest the production poked fun at both Viktor Orbán during a previous term as Prime Minister and Gábor Demszky who was the liberal Mayor of Budapest at the time, which I am very proud of. We later toured across a dozen French towns with great success. On a post-show discussion, a French spectator openly said : I wish French theater were as brave as this performance in facing our political anomalies.

The then Minister of Culture, Gábor Görgey presented me with the Hungarian Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit, but I declined the award, arguing that as long as we were being financed by a French theatre rather than the Hungarian state, I am not willing to accept a State award. Görgey understood, and offered to provide special state funding for the theatre. The issue reached László Baán, the then deputy state secretary, who argued that exclusive special state funding would not be appropriate given the democratic laws in the use of public money, but instead a special theatrical framework for grant funding was established that could be accessed by other independent theatres as well. It is from that time that independent theatres could apply for special funding which has provided Krétakör as well as several other independent companies with opportunities to break out.

The Knights Cross was not the only award that I refused that year. The Theatre Critics awarded W - Workers’ Circus with the Best Alternative Production. In an open letter signed by the members of the company, we refused the title of “alternative theatrical company”. We stated that we were just as professional as repertory companies and would not accept the award. We sent a message to critics, that the ever strengthening independent scene should not be dealt with as a separate from repertory companies working in “brick and mortar” theatres. Different ways of financing do not mean any difference in the quality of the artistic work.

Directing Venedikt Yerofeyev’s Walpurgis Night in Berlin at the Schaubühne was my first opportunity to work in Germany. While I cannot claim that the production was a success, as we could not find a common ground professionally with the management or the actors, it did provide the chance for me to meet Falk Rockstroh, who I later worked with at Burgtheater in Vienna.