08. 02. 2023

PROMETHEUS'22 AT THE FINISTERRA FESTIVAL IN PORTO

The highlight of the Union of European Theatres' Catastrophe project is the Finisterra festival, organised by the São João National Theatre and UTE in Porto, which will take place between January 27 and February 25. Over five consecutive weekends, Portuguese audiences will be able to see the five international co-productions that have been created as part of the project, following the premieres and performances that took place in the theatres of each of the co-production partners.

The performances were based on ancient Greek tragedies, which was the starting point for the following co-productions: IOCASTE (Prague Municipal Theatre, Czech Republic; Slovak Chamber Theatre - SKD Martin, Slovakia; dir. Lukáš Brutovský) FOCS/VATRE (Catalan National Theatre, Spain; Yugoslav Drama Theatre, Serbia; dir. Carme Portacelli); DECALOGUE OF ANXIETY (Theatre Laboratory Sfumato, Bulgaria; Luxembourg National Theatre; dir. Margarita Mladenova and Ivan Dobchev), IPHIGENIA (National Theatre of Strasbourg; Compagnie Les Productions Merlin, France; National Theatre of São João, Portugal; dir. Anne Théron), and PROMETHEUS'22 (Hungarian State Theatre of Cluj; Constanţa State Theatre, Romania; SNT Drama Ljubljana, Slovenia; dir. Gábor Tompa).

PROMETHEUS'22 is a Hungarian, Romanian, Slovenian and English language co-production between the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, the the Constanţa State Theatre and SNT Drama Ljubljana that premiered in July 2022 in Cluj, was performed seven times in Ljubljana last October and twice in January this year in Constanţa.

In Porto, the production, directed by Gábor Tompa, will be presented twice at the Finisterra Festival: on Friday, February 10, at 9 pm and the next day, February 11, at 7pm, in the main hall of the São João National Theatre.

Whether Prometheus is saved or not, it doesn't even matter, since he becomes the subject of the news and thus loses his heroic aura. Does the Titan sacrifice himself in the name of humanity and fine arts? It may well be, but the answer is still up to the viewers. Do we still need art today? Does it still define our spiritual dimension? Can the (authentic) value systems we used to relate to be replaced by others (better ones)? We don't know the answers, though our intuition guides us regarding many such questions, in fact we are all aware that we have to make considerable efforts not to lose our compass, not to get lost in a world where the gossip, fake news and momentary impressions rule.” – writes Nona Rapotan about the production.

The production features Igor Samobor, Domen Novak, Eva Jesenovec (SNT Drama Ljubljana), Cătălina Mihai, Florin Aioane, Ecaterina Lupu, Mirela Pană, Dana Dumitrescu (State Theatre of Constanţa), Gábor Viola, Áron Dimény, Tamás Kiss, Anikó Pethő, Eszter Román, Zsolt Bogdán, Andrea Vindis, Melinda Kántor (Hungarian Theatre of Cluj).

Alongside the director, Gábor Tompa, the creative team includes also: Erwin Șimșensohn (the director's collaborator), Carmencita Brojboiu (set elements and costumes), Vasile Șirli (composer), Ágnes Kali (dramaturg), Ferenc Sinkó (choreographer), Radu Daniel (video artist) and Gyopár Bocskai (assistant visual designer).