The 6th season of Merlin starts Friday Midnight, 16th September, launching the last three and a half months of its history at the same time. The fate of the institution, which opened as an English language theatre in 1991, has been doubtful for quite a while: in the last few years one could see all sorts of plans for the territory, which did not include this particular building, then somehow nothing ever changed. Now the time has arrived...

There were people who came here to see a play, attend a press conference, exhibition, fair trade fair, to work wireless on their laptops, drink a coffee, eat the daily menu, and some people came here exclusively over the weekends to party. You can still do it for the following three and a half months, up till the 2-day closing party at New Years Eve, then from 1st of January it will be put out of joint with its past life... With 2012, the end of the world is in fact reaching Gerlóczy street.

The End of What World?

Merlin opened its gates in 1991 as an international theatre hosting foreign and local productions. Up till his appointment as head of the National Theatre, Tamás Jordán was the director, followed by László Magács, the former head of foreign language theatre productions. The theatrical menu included unique international productions, plays by local alternative companies, poetry and theatre festivals, and the venue soon became an anchor point for art lovers with a foreign tongue and learners of English. Catering, however, was indeed in poor shape.

In 2006, László Magács invited György Klinkó to take over the management of the restaurant and club. The restaurant part of Merlin started to transform. The interior was completely stripped, and having removed the rather retro suspended ceilings, the original shapes of the former transformer building came to light. The space no longer smelled of fried lard (which used to be quite an unpleasant concomitant of the theatre bar), and in addition to the weekday theatre performances, weekend club nights started to pop up. From the vibes of the seventies, Merlin became 21st century Berlin, which was indeed reflected by its slogan: Ich bin ein Merliner.

Merlin as a theatre has remained a platform for hosting performances (in the last season, there will be several Japanese productions again), and the club, which has been in the Budapest club rotation since 2006, keeps on hosting club nights of local party organiser teams (I Love Deep, Avatar, etc), there will be international live acts and DJs (Glitch Mob, Pan Pot), thematic parties, movie launch parties. Up till the final closing party on 30th-31st December, when the two days long funeral feast full of theatrical and musical fun will be held in the premises and in a big tent on the yard, where one can say farewell to the building with pleasure instead of tears.

Spirit of Lost Places

Locals in their forties may remember the time with a big smile on their face when they used to frequent the present building of Merlin as Magister Disco. The place that only lives on in memories received a dancing function only after about two decades, and all this will become a memorial place again in a few months. The theatre part of Merlin receives a new space from January in the former Atrium movie theatre. There will be a café, films, plays, but due to the proximity of the neighbours, the parties will be discontinued there. However, there is no need to worry, just like the theatre, the musical initiatives will most probably appear somewhere else in the future in a new form.

We may take it as a guarantee, if we take a look at the past and labours of the persons running the club. György Klinkó, the manager of the club started to press forward electronic music productions and concerts mixed with DJ gigs next to the popular weekend dance events around the turn of the millennium in Rigoletto in Visegrádi Street. After all the fuss so typical of big cities, the club ceased to exist, restaurants have been opened in its place from time to time, but it no longer functions as a club.

Then came Mokka Cuka on Hajógyári Island, transformed from former Pesti Est Café, where during the day one could eat nice food, work on the wireless network, while at night bands played and club nights continued, on Tuesdays poets and writers recited their work to the accompaniment of jazz musicians. The heroic years were 2003-04, then there was a change in ownership, the selection of food started to deteriorate, as well as the musical openness, and this year instead of a strong musical initiative, the place functioned as Slow Dance Tent at the Sziget festival.

The next phase has been Merlin, where the musical cultural circle presented so far received a new platform. And it lasts for a next good quarter of a year. Periods keep ending and turning into each other. There is no need to worry, let us burry it deep in our memory. We hope this last season has further unforgettable moments in store for you to add.