The Pendragon Legend

Antal Szerb’sadventurous novel full of fantasy was well ahead of its age. It cannot be accident that it served as a source for several stage adaptations and a film made in 1974, in the latter, the key roles were played by Zoltán Latinovits and Iván Darvas.

This time, amusical stage adaptation was made by composer Adrián Kovács and text writer Attila Galambos. The emphases of the adventure novel shift onto the emotions, the passion wiping out all rational thinking but the essence of the story remains the same: Doctor Bátky, the Hungarian arts student on a study visit in London receives an invitation from the lord of Pendragon to the scenic Wales where he can investigate for the secret society, the Rosicrucians, being in the focus of his interest. The excursion promising to be pleasant and useful is made creepy by strange events: eerie prophecies, murder attempts and a scientific discovery which may not be allowed to be publicly disclosed. Meanwhile the pursuit goes on for the enormous heritage left behind by the millionaire deceased in a mysterious disease. Crime, mystery, love fuses together in the Welsh story above which eternally hovers the motto of the Pendragons: “I believe in the resurrection of the body”.