the child that was born on the sabbath day

a one-act play by Elod Pal Csirmaz

After multiple tragedies cause Son to identify with his younger self, his sister-in-law gets entangled in his dream world where time stands still.

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You have a strong sense of theatricality, and also a confidence in your ability to experiment and create confident and interesting language. All three of your plays are very individual, whilst displaying the common traits of being intriguing, succinct and poetically rich.
Feedback from Soho Theatre, London
on the child..., the one who has seen and thud, beep, buzz
It has a wonderful musicality to it ... The release from usual theatrical form is exciting
Feedback from Gate Theatre, London

Persons: Mother, Son (Mother's son), Lover (Son's boyfriend), Brother (Son's brother), Wife (Brother's wife), Doctress

Mother, an ex-actress, suffers from amnesia that resulted from a motor accident several years ago. After learning that she might not have much time left, Son decides to come out to her and to act as if he was still the sixteen-year-old boy she remembers. The coming-out turns out to be a disaster, as Mother relapses into singing the songs of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet, specially adapted for her gay son. Meanwhile, Wife's latest book is turned down by three publishers in a row, and she has a miscarriage. Son becomes estranged from Mother, but seems to get on with Doctress, in front of whom he continues to play his role of a boy of 16. Mother dies. Lover is hospitalised, and he turns out to be HIV positive. Son rejects accepting reality. He searches for his mother, and Doctress informs Brother and Wife that he suffers from a personality disorder as he has become identified with his 16-year-old self. Wife, longing for a child to care for, persuades Brother to adopt him until he is back to normal. Son and Wife gradually exclude Brother from their dream world, one writing a never-ending book, and the other practising the flute to get a position in an orchestra, which he has been doing since the beginning of the play.

Estimated running time: 30 minutes.

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  The Hungarian version of this play, Concerto oscuro, together with Virrasztás (Vigil for the Dead James Cullen), was awarded first prize in the drama category of the Hungarian Association of Young Writers' 2005 literary competition.