In the 1988/89 season, Otter Trap was the only premiere in the National Theatre that indirectly thematised the recent state socialist past and was thus connected to the political context of the year of the regime change. Erzsébet Galgóczi’s novel was first censored, then achieved cult success; it discussed the show trials of Rajk and his companions, and the possible life paths for peasants, women, and female creatives, presenting a sharp critique of the Rákosi era. This paper examines the factors that prevented the performance from having such a defining effect as the novel did, factors which point to questions about the theatrical representation of historical memory.