Candide 16
or radical optimism
My decision to engage with Voltaire’s Candide is connected to the word optimism. To that fascinating word which, nowadays, has become more a subject of mockery, or else is treated as a form of weakness. Its essence seems to have retreated, out of fear of reality.
What does it mean to be an optimist today? Is it even possible anymore? Can we still hope for something better?
This is why I added another word to the title, one that is all too familiar to us today: radicalism.
This Candide is a simple optimist—this Candide is a radical optimist.
Hence the title of the play: Candide, or Radical Optimism.
16
Candide
Réka Bubik e.h.
Patrik Albert Holló e.h.
Milán Ficsor e.h.
Stage adaptácion
David Jakovlevic
Hungarian text
Stage designer
Vanja Magic
Costume designer
Mia Popovska
Composer
Adrián Kovács
Denis Golenja
Dramaturgie
Instructor
Eszter Vitus
Stage manager
István Lencsés
Gábor Dobos
Szilvia Kabódi
Assistant director and choreographer
Gábor Vida
Director
Premiere:
10 October 2025