In Romania’s Székely Region, suicide rates are twice as high as in the rest of the country. Causes are unknown. Some looked for explanations in the cold climate and the ruggedness of these mountainous terrains; others looked at the Székely people’s quick-temper and concluded that their values are quite different and specific; in that world, the sun sets quicker. The quicker, the better.

The play Mine Flowers is set in this universe, where former mine-worker, Ivan Vajda, lives as a discouraged unemployed and caretaker of his old, sick father. The world hasn’t turned his way. Like him, the people closest to him are also trying to escape – Ilonka, his step-sister, Mihaly, his best-friend, and his neighbours, Illes and Irma. All in their fashion.

In spite of its sad veneer, full of unlucky destinies and countless set-backs, Mine Flowers doesn’t strike as an unhappy play. Repleted with dark-humor, it helps us put our life in perspective and awake from that nightmare in which all characters disappear.

Csaba Székely