My research focuses on the responses of theatres within the Hungarian-speaking regions (Hungary and Romania) to the sudden onset of the COVID-19 lockdown. I approach these selected productions through two interrelated questions. The first segment examines the works from the perspective of theatrical mediation and mediated presence, incorporating Auslander’s concept of liveness into the analysis. The second segment concerns the role and function of theatre itself. My investigation raises questions such as how COVID-19 reshaped the dominant theatrical language in the Hungarian-speaking regions of Hungary and Romania, what new formats and productions emerged from the constraints imposed by the pandemic, and how different theatres and companies adapted to them. Which creative groups and artists proved flexible during the first wave of the virus, and can we speak of “quarantine-compatible” performances within the Hungarian theatrical landscape?