27. 03. 2019

LAS MENINAS – VELÁZQUEZ’S WORLD FAMOUS PAINTING ON STAGE AT THE HUNGARIAN THEATRE OF CLUJ

The Hungarian Theatre of Cluj presents the premiere of Las Meninas – directed by Andrei Măjeri -, on Friday, March 29, at 8 pm, an event that also marks World Theatre Day. The production is based on one of the winning projects submitted to the Competition for Young Theatre Directors, in 2017. Additional winning proposals will be staged during our current theatrical season.

The first Hungarian language production of the play Las Meninas, written by contemporary Mexican author Ernesto Anaya, speaks about the artist's condition, creating a dialogue between the Spanish Golden Age and postmodernity. In both of these “the world is an image” and “image is everything”. Originality is the main trait that characterizes the structure and mechanisms of the text.

According to director Andrei Măjeri, Las Meninas is a very text-centered production and the text as such is quite heavy: “It's not a light comedy, though I think it's going to be a funny performance. We use an empty space for the first half of the performance, while the actual set will appear in the second half of the production. Costumes are also the reverse: from the postmodern scene to the recreation of the Baroque painting. The costumes follow the same pattern – from the postmodern visual representation to recreating the baroque era painting. The staging has gone well; we are now in the stage of giving it its final form. I hope the audience will understand our approach, will leave with a story, will have their own questions, but I also hope they will not leave having answered those questions.”

The production’s costume designer, Lucian Broscăţean, stated the following concerning the rehearsal process: “Together with Andrei and Irina, we have designed the space and the costumes that originally deconstructed the idea of a Baroque painting, subsequently reconstructing the scene captured by Velázquez in the masterpiece of Las Meninas. The costume fittings and the constant feedback from the team and the extraordinary actors helped us a great deal in settling on the finer details of the project.”

The production’s creative team: Irina Chirilă (set design), Attila Bordás (stage movement), Adrian Piciorea (sound design), Katalin Incze (musical coordination), Ágnes Keszeg (illustrations, prints), Péter Habala (fencing master), Diana Flore (accessories), Alpár Fogarasi (assistant to the director) and Carmen Cherecheş (assistant to the costume designer).

The role of Velázquez is portrayed by Ervin Szűcs, with additional characters played by Éva Imre, Ferenc Sinkó, Gizella Kicsid, Emőke Kató, Andrea Vindis, Loránd Farkas, Róbert Laczkó Vass and Csaba Marosán.

Subsequent performances: Sunday, March 31; Saturday, April 13; Monday, April 29 at 8 pm.

Tickets can be purchased at the theatre's ticket office, as well as online at www.biletmaster.ro.