DEMONS - THE FIRST PREMIERE OF THE 231ST SEASON OF THE HUNGARIAN THEATRE OF CLUJ

The director of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, Gábor Tompa, presented the plans for the upcoming 2023/2024 season during a press conference. It will be an eventful season for the Cluj company, as this year, in addition to the six premieres planned, the UTEFest - Festival of the Union of European Theatres will be organized by the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj once again, this time bearing the title HTC230/STUDIO15/UTEFest20. During the press conference Gábor Tompa also introduced the company's new members, actors Gedeon András, Hannah Daradics and Lilla Pánczél.

The new productions of the 2023/2024 season will be staged by directors Nuno Cardoso, Traian Savinescu, Diego de Brea, Mihai Măniuțiu, Gábor Tompa and Attila Vidnyánszky Jr.

The first premiere of the season will take place on October 19, Thursday evening at 7 pm in the theatre's studio: the play Demons by Lars Norén, directed by Nuno Cardoso. Lars Norén's drama will be performed for the first time in Hungarian, with Bence Patat translating the play into Hungarian.

Nuno Cardoso is no stranger to Cluj audiences, as his staging of Arthur Miller's The Witches of Salem at the São João National Theatre was shown on the main stage in Cluj in April this year, and his production of Danton's Death was part of the 18th edition of the Union of European Theatres Festival in 2019.

Nuno Cardoso said at the beginning of the press conference that he had only directed large-scale productions in the past, but this time he wanted to stage a more intimate, smaller production, for which he chose Lars Norén's play Demons.

The characters in Norén's text are two couples who meet for a drink in one of the couple's apartments; as the night progresses and under the influence of alcohol, the four characters begin to project their frustrations about their lives onto each other. The play confronts the audience with themes of loss, intimacy, domestic violence, complacency, trauma and anxiety. Written in 1982, it is one of the Swedish-born playwright's best-known works.

The director of the production commented that he felt close to the piece, as he had already had the opportunity to work with Lars Norén's texts. He added that while we face wars and huge problems today, we don't even think about the fact that most of the violence we commit is committed within four walls, against each other. In his opinion, this is due to fear and the fact that we cannot talk to each other, that nobody trusts each other.

The performance features Éva Imre, Ervin Szűcs, Anikó Pethő and Balázs Bodolai.

The production was created in collaboration with set designer F. Ribeiro, costume designer Gyopár Bocskai, composer Micha Mendel and choreographer Roldy Harrys.

Tickets for the premiere of Demons, as well as for the October and November performances of the play, can be purchased at the theatre's box office (weekdays between 10 am and 2 pm) or online at www.biletmaster.ro.

UTEFest - the Festival of the Union of European Theatres will be held again in Cluj-Napoca between November 4-19, and was last hosted by the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj in 2019. This year's festival will be called HTC230/STUDIO15/UTEFest20 to mark the 230th anniversary of the permanent Hungarian-language theatre in Cluj-Napoca last December and the 15th anniversary of the opening of the theatre's Studio Hall in November of this year.

During the sixteen days of the festival, the works of 10 member theatres and individual members of the Union of European Theatres will visit Cluj-Napoca, including the National Theatre of Northern Greece, the Prague City Theatre and the Szolnok Szigligeti Theatre, National Theatre of Luxembourg, National Drama Theatre of Slovenia, Stary Teatr from Poland, Teatro di Roma, Sfumato Theatre Laboratory from Bulgaria, National Theatre of São João from Portugal and Yugoslav Drama Theatre from Serbia. The programme will be complemented by 5 performances of the Cluj company's own repertoire. In addition to the performances, there will be professional talks, audience encounters and book launches.

In parallel with the festival, in October Traian Savinescu will start rehearsals on the main stage for a stage adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Nightingale. The children's production will premiere on Saturday, December 16. Slovenian director Diego de Brea, who will be working with the Cluj company for the first time, will stage a rarely performed work by Friedrich Schiller, Mary Stuart, in the theatre's main hall next spring. Then, Mihai Măniuțiu, well known to Cluj audiences, will direct Albert Camus' The Misunderstanding in the theatre's studio space. Gábor Tompa will stage a two-character play I Am the Wind by contemporary Norwegian playwright Jon Fosse, also in the studio. The final premiere of the 2023/2024 season will be staged by Attila Vidnyánszky Jr. This will be his third production in Cluj, following his highly acclaimed Romeo and Juliet and Young Barbarians.