18. 11. 2019

UTE FEST BEGINS TOMORROW!

Organized by the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, the 18th edition of the Union des Théâtres de l’Europe Festival will begin on Tuesday, November 19, following an 11-year hiatus. The event, which will take place between November 19 and 30, will host productions presented by theatres from numerous countries, such as Italy, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary, Luxembourg, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Russia and Germany.
 
The prestigious event will debut on November 19, at 7 pm, in the theatre’s Main Hall, with the premiere of Mother Courage and Her Children, directed by Armin Petras.

“Mother Courage and Her Children is about the life of a single woman who goes through the Thirty Years’ War of the 17th century as a victualler, alongside her children. The war provides her with a livelihood, but at the same time, it takes away all three of her children. Mother Courage does not change: she learns nothing, she does not regret anything. She can always move on. Brecht and Dessau’s play is a great tragicomic ballad about the meaninglessness of life, and the joy of life that will not disappear, not even in the most difficult of times. Because you have to keep on singing, dancing, and loving even when everything around you collapses. Nevertheless, the uninterrupted momentum of moving on also means that everything will remain just as it was.” – stated Armin Petras.
 
Jordan Tannahill's play Concord Floral, staged by Ferenc Sinkó, will take place on Wednesday, November 20, at 5 pm, in the Studio Hall.
 
Digital Natives is an international theatrical project encompassing several member theaters of the Union des Théâtres de l’Europe (UTE), in which artists of different generations are provided with the opportunity, space and time to experience honest, bias-free curiosity towards each other’s worlds.

This was the starting point for the staging of Concord Floral, by young Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill, which will be performed in Cluj-Napoca - just like in the other four European cities - by a selected group of digital native students. All of us – the creators, performers and spectators - can take part in a theatrical experience where intergenerational differences are erased, where youngsters and adults, parents and children inhabit the same dimension. The production explores topics of general interest such as guilt, sexuality, the irreversible consequences of our reckless actions, the inevitable solitude that is part of community existence, all from the perspective of this special generation.
 
On the same day, at 8 pm, Marco Paolini and Francesco Niccolini’s Nel tempo degli dèi - Il calzolaio di Ulisse (In the Age of Gods – Odysseus’ Shoemaker) by the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, Italy, will be presented in the Main Hall.
 
“How many and, above all, which gods does one have to deal with nowadays? I am obviously not referring to the unshakable convictions of a believer, but to the reasonable doubts of those who, considering the times in which they live, think with amazement and disillusion of the accelerations proposed to the human race. The possibility for long life, for mental and physical enhancement, the possibility to resist illness, etc... Staying human seems to be an excessively simple and reductive slogan, too nostalgic and reassuring when becoming a semi-god seems possible, at least for the most fortunate inhabitants of this world. For me, Ulysses is someone who knows a lot about the gods, and when faced by the sirens of immortality, he knows how to find the will to resist.” - says Marco Paolini, the production’s protagonist.

The UTE FEST's detailed program and more information about the performances included can be found at www.utefestcluj-huntheater.ro.
 
The main financier of UTE FEST is the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, the Government of Hungary, as well as the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and City Council.

Tickets for the festival’s performances can be purchased at the theatre’s ticket office or online at www.biletmaster.ro. In the November 19 – 30 period, during the UTE Fest, the theatre’s ticket office will be open daily from 10 am until the beginning of the day’s last performance.