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(1931-1991)
Péter Makai pursued his education at the Academy of Drama between 1952 and 1956, graduating with a degree in directing. He first signed with the Opera House as an assistant director, and later worked at the National Theatre of Szeged. He worked as a designer at both theatres. From 1964 until his death, he was a member of the Opera, and was its chief designer after 1989. From 1978, he was also a professor of scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts. He also frequently did design work for other theatres in Budapest and elsewhere, and his work stood out chiefly in the directing and designs he did for music and dance dramas. His work was characterised by an expressively powerful construction of dramatic space, rich fantasy, suppleness and an ongoing development of scenographic styles. He worked as a designer outside of Hungary as well, in Copenhagen, Belgrade and Munich. A book on his works edited by Daisy Boschán has been published, and the Opera House has also created several commemorative exhibits of his designs.