A VARIED PROGRAM TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN THE SECOND WEEK OF UTEFEST'S 20TH EDITION!

The Hungarian Theatre of Cluj awaits its audiences with seven productions, an exhibition, a round table discussion, book launches and audience encounters during the second week of the 20th Festival of the Union of European Theatres.

On Monday, November 13, at 8 pm, Teatro di Roma - Industria Indipendente will present a guest production of The Left Hand, directed by Erika Z. Galli and Martina Ruggeri. The Italian-language production stars Silvia Calderoni, Martina Ruggeri, Iva Stanisic, and Roberta Zanardo.

“The Left Hand is a variety show that invokes magic as the technique of another knowledge, an analogy that makes the repressed visible as a body, wonder that can reveal and rewrite the mechanism of reality. Insisting on a flawed strategy to stand on the side of rejected knowledge, getting lost, and finding oneself in a space of confusion between the image of the world and the limits of the human.” - reads the description of the performance.

On Tuesday, November 14, from 8 pm, festival audiences will be able to see the stage adaptation of Dezső Kosztolányi's novel, István Szabó K.'s highly popular staging of Édes Anna, in the theatre's studio.

"It is no coincidence that István K. Szabó said that 'Édes Anna is a type of novel that begs to be staged'. The problem of inequality is not something we should ignore nowadays. The adaptation of Édes Anna by Ildikó Lőkös and István K. Szabó makes us understand, without any pretense, that our society is built on exploitation. We exploit others in our own way, while others exploit us." - writes Péter Újszászy Kovács about the production.

On Wednesday, November 15, at 12 noon, a round table discussion will take place in the upstairs foyer of the theatre to mark the 15th anniversary of the opening of the Studio Hall of the Hungarian Theatre in Cluj. András István Demeter, former Secretary of State of the Ministry of Culture, Zsuzsa Gergely, journalist and Gábor Tompa, director, will participate in the discussion.

Also on Wednesday, November 15, from 5 pm and 9 pm, respectively, the Bulgarian Sfumato Theatre Laboratory's production Happy Days!, directed by Margarita Mladenova, will be performed in the studio space set up on the main stage of the theatre. Samuel Beckett's play focuses on the two poles of existence: the mundane and the transcendental, while also speaking frankly about the loneliness and absurdity of old age through the play's two characters.

The Bulgarian-language production won several awards: the National Ikar Award for Best Actress and Best Set Design, the National Askeer Award for Best Actress, and the Chamber Theatre Festival Vratza Award for Best Director, Best Actress and Best Set Design.

On Thursday, November 16, at 7 pm, the festival audiences will be able to attend the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj's latest production, Demons, directed by Nuno Cardoso, in the theatre's studio. The drama by Swedish playwright Lars Norén, which premiered in October, was performed in Hungarian for the first time ever in Cluj.

“Lars Nóren is not an easy writer. But here’s the thing: I didn’t choose Nóren, I chose this particular play. Because it haunts me ever since I read it. Because I think that the biggest darkness is the one the separates two people that lie in bed together each day. Because I think that we speak to much about changing the world and forget about the abyss that waits for us when we close the door of our own home. I never think about consequences, that’s a huge problem, a character fault of mine. So I went with my heart and decided to do the Demons.” - said Nuno Cardoso, director of the production.

On Friday, November 17, at 8 pm, Sweden, the first play by contemporary Portuguese writer Pedro Mexia, will be performed in the theatre's main hall, a production also directed by Nuno Cardoso. The play deals with the aftermath of the September 1976 elections, which marked the end of half a century of rule by the Swedish Social Democratic Party. The elections coincide with the marriage of Monika Egerman, the daughter of a bitter, sixties, intellectual who is 'withdrawn from the world' and openly expresses his dissatisfaction with political change.

Directed by Nuno Cardoso, Artistic Director of the São João National Theatre in Porto, Sweden is a place where the idea of the future, the elimination of illusions and good intentions are all up for debate. A place where the boundaries between public and private life, politics and intimacy are blurred.

On Saturday, November 18, from 1 pm, visitors will be able to discover the latest publications of the Camil Petrescu Foundation. The Romanian translations of the following books will be presented to audiences: Giorgio Strehler: Shakespeare. Goldoni. Brecht; Olivier Py: Hamlet la imperativ [Hamlet in the Imperative!]; Wajdi Mouawad: Sângele Făgăduințelor [The Blood Promises].

Also on November 18, from 5 pm and 8 pm respectively, the production The Plague will be performed by two actors from the National Theatre of Luxembourg in the theatre's studio.

Frank Hoffmann's production focuses on the essence of one of Albert Camus's major works, The Plague, and finds a form for it that is particularly conducive to theatricality. True to the spirit of the original work, Florian Hirsch joins forces with Hoffmann to create a true five-act drama with a large cast - played by two captivating actors, Marie Jung and François Camus, who were awarded the Luxembourg Theatre Prize in 2021 for their performances.

On Sunday, November 19, at 8 pm, the festival will close with a Serbian-language production of William Shakespeare's well-known tragedy Titus Andronicus, directed by András Urbán and performed by actors of the Yugoslav Drama Theatre in Belgrade.

“Returning from the war with loot and the captive Gothic queen Tamora, the Roman general Titus Andronicus faces a political crisis in the country. His honorable decision to refuse the offered throne in favor of one of the sons of the deceased emperor, sets in motion an avalanche of tragic events that cause general suffering on both sides. The bloody story of intolerance, lack of forgiveness, cruelty, loss of trust in the rule of law and the decision to replace Justice with revenge, resonates as strongly today as it did in Shakespeare's time.” - reads the production's playbill.

Oana Maria Cajal's exhibition George Banu / At the Curtain's Edge will remain on view in the theatre's upstairs foyer for the rest of the festival. Of the award-winning US-based playwright, screenwriter, visual artist and poet George Banu stated the following: “"Oana Cajal's work fascinates me with the tension created between the aggressiveness of lines and the splendour of her colours. But here and there, too, nostalgic, reminiscent, evocative touches appear; accents that temper this ancient, intense, vital, memorable conflict."

After each performance - and after the second performance in the case of two consecutive studio performances - there will be an audience meeting with the creators in the upstairs lobby.

All performances are available with Hungarian, Romanian and English surtitles.

The programme of the HTC230/STUDIO15/UTEFest20 festival is available on the website of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, huntheater.ro.

Tickets for the festival's performances can be purchased at the theatre's box office or online at www.biletmaster.ro. During UTEFest, between November 4-19 the theatre's box office is open daily from 10 am until the beginning of the day's last performance.

HTC230/STUDIO15/UTEFest20 ticket sale for the main hall performances of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj:

Audience members who buy tickets for 3 main stage performances will have to pay 100 lei for the 3 tickets in total.

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The festival is co-organized by the Corvineum Foundation and the Union of European Theatres, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Government of Hungary and the Bethlen Gábor Fund, as well as the Cluj-Napoca City Hall and City Council.

The event is supported by the Office for Interethnic Relations, Energobit, the Communitas Foundation and UNITER. Transportation partner: RMB Inter Auto.

The festival organizers reserve the right to change the program.