Stephan Balint

Stephan Balint (born ''Bálint István'' 11 July 1943 in Budapest, died 11 October 2007 in Budapest) was a writer, actor, theatre director, and playwright. Balint was co-founder of New York's Squat Theatre where he wrote, acted, and directed ''L-Train to Eldorado'' and ''Full Moon Killer''.

Life

Istvan Balint was the son of poet and artist Endre Balint. Balint was the founding member of a theater group called the Squat Theater, who performed in the living room of a house after being denied a public broadcast license by the communist regime of Hungary. The group grew into a collective that became well-known to younger artists throughout Budapest for trying to invent a new type of avant-garde production. In 1976, Balint, along with a number of other artists in the collective, toured theater festivals throughout Europe with the troupe, before relocating to New York City in mid-1977, where he changed his name to Stephan. The troupe finally settled in a theater in Chelsea, Manhattan where they became famous throughout the late 1970s and 1980s.

Among the plays Balint co-wrote, co-directed, and performed in were ''Pig! Child! Fire!'', ''Andy Warhol's Last Love'', and ''Mr. Dead & Mr's Free''.

He also acted in several films, including ''Hunter'', directed by Robert Frank, written by himself; American Stories: Food, Family and Philosophy in 1989; and The Golden Boat in 1990.

Balint returned to Budapest in the early 1990s, continuing his work until the start of his long illness in 2002, dying in 2007 of pneumonia. He was survived by his daughter Eszter Balint, his son Gaspar Balint who lives in Budapest, and his grandson August Balint DuClos, who lives in New York.

Plays

* 1975-79 '' Three Sisters'' by Anton Chekhov.
* 1977 ''Pig, Child, Fire!,'' a play in five parts. The first, a drama based on the confessions of Nikolai Stavrogin in Dostoyevsky's ''Demons''. The second is inspired by 1940s American Gangster films. The third is a comic act.
* 1978 ''Andy Warhol's Last Love'', Ulrike Meinhof meets Andy Warhol in 3 acts: ''Aliens on the Second Floor'', ''An Imperial Message'' and ''Interview With the Dead.''
* 1981 ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free,'' film and live show in a storefront, 1981.
* 1981 ''The Battle of Sirolo.'' Open air version of ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free.'' Premiere at Polverigi Festival (Inteatro Festival, Polverigi.) Written, Produced, and Directed by Squat Theater.
* 1982 ''The Golden Age of Squat Theatre.'' A retrospective of three Squat Theatre plays: ''Pig, Child, Fire!,'' ''Andy Warhol's Last Love'' and ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free.''
* 1985-86 ''Dreamland Burns.'' Written and directed by Balint. Sets and set design by Eva Buchmuller. Commissioned by Massachusetts Council for the Arts - New Works Grant. Performed at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.; Montreal, Munich, Zurich, Polverigi International Festival; Boston, Theatre der Welt, Frankfurt, The Kitchen, NYC; Los Angeles; Chicago; Milan Ottre Festival; Monserrato, Cagliari.
* 1985-86 ''L-Train to Eldorado.'' Written and directed by Balint. Commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Art Bureau Munich, Next Wave Festival, BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music, CAL Performances, Berkeley, California; Hunter Playhouse, NYC; Boston, Amherst, Massachusetts; Vienna Festival; Holland Festival; Theatre der Welt, Hamburg; Zurich Theatre Spektakel.
* 1990-91 ''Full Moon Killer.'' Written and directed by Balint. Sets and set design by Eva Buchmuller. Part of the trilogy ''Killing Time,'' ''a work in progress'': The Kitchen, NYC.

Films

* 1975 ''Minotaur in a Sand Mine'' 20 minutes, B&W, 16mm. Budapest, Biennale de Paris.
* 1975 ''Don Juan von Leporello.'' 60 minutes, B&W, 16mm Budapest, Düsseldorf.
* 1977 ''Pig, Child, Fire!'' 1981, 60 min, color, sound, 16mm
* 1978 ''Andy Warhol's Last Love,'' ''An Imperial Message,'' 2nd part of play. 1978-81, 60 min, b&w and color, sound, 16mm. Directed by Balint and Péter Halász, Performance Camera: Larry Solomon. 'An Imperial Message' camera: Michel Auder. Michael Mooser, cinematography. Editor: Roughcut Studio. Music: Blondie (band), Kraftwerk. Appearance by Kathleen Kendel as the White Witch.
* 1981 ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free.'' 43 minutes, color, 16mm. Part of the play ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free'' exhibited separately, Hamburg, Abaton Cinema, Berlin. Künstlerhaus; Yale University. Directed by Balint and Halász. Péter Halász, cinematography.
* 1982 ''A Matter of Facts 1982 by Eric Mitchell w/ Squat Theatre (Archival)'' 17 minutes, 45 seconds, color, 16mm. Starring Stephan Balint, Klara Palotai, Boris Major, Péter Halász, Peter Berg, Eric Daillie, Anna Koós, Eszter Balint, Vince Pomilio, Phillipe Pagasky and Arto Lindsay. ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free.'' courtesy of Squat Theatre.
* 1983 ''Tscherwonez.'' Directed by Gabor Altorjay. With Stephan Balint, Peter (Breznyik) Berg, Péter Halász and Eva Buchmuller of Squat Theatre.
* 1985 ''Let Me Love You,'' 36 minutes, B&W, 16mm. Part of the play ''Dreamland Burns'' exhibited at Montreal, International Festival of New Cinema & Video. (Festival du nouveau cinéma). With Shirley Clarke, Richard Leacock and August Darnell. Directed by Stephan Balint.
* 1985 ''American Stories, Food, Family and Philosophy'' (French: Histoires d'Amérique) is a 1989 Belgian drama film directed by Chantal Akerman. It was entered into the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. The film deals with Jewish identity in the center of the U.S.A. Eszter Balint also acted in the film.
* 1989 ''Hunter'' Directed by Robert Frank. Written by Stephan Balint. Cast, Stephan Balint and Gunter Burchert.
* 1989 '' ''Day One'''' Directed by Joseph Sargent. Writers: Peter Wyden (book), David W. Rintels (teleplay).
* 1990 ''The Golden Boat'' Written and Directed by Raúl Ruiz.

Publication

*''Manifesto.'' by István Bálint on behalf of studio kassak and published in ''Schmuck,'' Hungary, March/April 1973 issue.
* ''New Observations.'' Guest Editors Eva Buchmuller and Stephan Balint. Copyright 1986, New Observations Ltd. and the authors, all rights reserved.

Awards

* 1978 – Obie Award, for outstanding achievement for Pig, Child, Fire.
* 1979 – Grand Prix at BITEF, Belgrade International Theatre Festival, Belgrade.
* 1979 – Best Foreign Theatre Performance of the Year, Italian Critics Award for Andy Warhol's Last Love.
* 1981 – Best American Play– Obie Award for Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free.
* 1983 – Special Obie Award, Grand Prize.
* 1985 – Star of the Week by Hamburger Abendblatt for Dreamland Burns.
* 1989 – New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (NYFA) to writer director Balint and set designer Eva Buchmuller.

References

External links

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Squat Theatre
Official Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balint, Stephan
1943 births
2007 deaths
Theatre people from Budapest
Hungarian theatre directors