THE INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS IN CLUJ
13th edition: OTHERNESS
16-20 October 2024
The 13th edition of the International Meetings in Cluj, the festival of the National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca, will take place from 16 to 20 October 2024. The compelling and highly relevant theme of this year's edition is Otherness.
Infusing in subtler or more overt ways the issues brought up by the most recent productions of the Cluj-Napoca National Theatre, the theme of "otherness" prompts reflection on essential questions: Who is the other - the stranger, and at the same time my fellow human being - with whom I share this existence? Am I - a 21st century human - a homogenous, unitary being, or do I still struggle with inner conflict, identity dilemmas and soul-tugging issues which I need to accept and try to heal? What does it mean to put myself in their shoes, to be the other, to look at things with a different perspective, from the outside? Who would I be if I were another? Can I separate the different roles I play in everyday life? Can I distinguish fact from fiction in our virtuality-ridden present? Is the other what I picture them to be? Am I what I picture myself to be? How does all this affect my life in the Romanian, European society of today?
Through the selection of performances and complementary events it presents, the International Meetings in Cluj festival opens up a platform for artistic dialogue around these essential questions, inviting the local audience, along with theatre specialists from Romania and from around the world, to search for answers that would provide us with a better understanding of the world we live in, while encouraging collaboration in finding viable solutions for an educated, self-aware society, fostering a sense of responsibility towards the future.
The programme of the performances presented on the Main Stage of the Cluj-Napoca National Theatre will include: Twelfth Night or What You Will, after William Shakespeare, directed by Botond Nagy; Le Piéton de l'air (A Stroll in the Air) by Eugène Ionesco, directed by Gábor Tompa; The King Stag by Carlo Gozzi, directed by Tudor Lucanu; We Bombed in New Heaven by Joseph Heller, directed by László Bocsárdi.
The theatre's venue dedicated to new dramaturgies and theatrical experiment, the Euphorion Studio, will host the performances: Caesar's Last Love by contemporary Romanian author Horia Gârbea, directed by Tudor Antofie; How Mr. Gherase Fell in Love with Clara Smith by the young contemporary Romanian author Cosmin Stănilă, directed by Doru Vatavului; Songs to Scare Off Fear, a concert-performance by Ada Milea based on ideas from texts by Herta Müller; The Servants of Beauty, inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, and directed by Çağlar Yiğitoğulları; B Category Goddesses by Alexandra Felseghi, directed by Andrei Măjeri.
Wednesday, 16 October 2024
SONGS TO SCARE AWAY FEAR, after ideas from texs by Herta Müller |
concert-performance by Ada Milea
7:00 pm, Foyer, 2nd level
EXHIBITION OPENING: Theatrical Alter Egos
7:30 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Main Stage
WE BOMBED IN NEW HAVEN by Joseph Heller | directed by László Bocsárdi
Thursday, 17 October 2024
11 am, Cluj National Theatre, Foyer, 2nd level
PERFORMANCES IN DIALOGUE, with Ion Bogdan Lefter and the creative teams and cast of Songs to Scare Away Fear and We Bombed in New Haven
12:00 pm, Foyer, 2nd level
Book Launches: Four Plays by Alexandra Felseghi and New Romanian Drama, coordinated by Oana Cristea-Grigorescu and Sasho Ognenovski
5 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Euphorion Studio
B CATEGORY GODDESSES by Alexandra Felseghi, after an idea by Andrei Măjeri | directed by Andrei Măjeri
8 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Main Stage
A STROLL IN THE AIR by Eugène Ionesco | directed by Gábor Tompa
Friday, 18 October 2024
11 am, Cluj National Theatre, Foyer, 2nd level
PERFORMANCES IN DIALOGUE, with Marina Constantinescu, Ștefana Pop-Curșeu and the creative teams and cast of B Category Goddesses and A Stroll in the Air
12:00 pm, Foyer, 2nd level
Book Launches: Theatrical... "Snowballs of Time" by Tamara Constantinescu and Documentary Theatres, coordinated by Erica Magris and Béatrice Picon-Vallin, and translated by Mirella Patureau
5 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Euphorion Studio
CESAR'S LAST LOVE by Horia Gârbea | directed by Tudor Antofie
8 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Main Stage
TWELFTH NIGHT, or WHAT YOU WILL, after William Shakespeare | directed by Botond Nagy
Saturday, 19 October 2024
11 am, Cluj National Theatre, Foyer, 2nd level
PERFORMANCES IN DIALOGUE, with Cristina Modreanu and the creative teams and cast of Cesar's Last Love and Twelfth Night, or What You Will
12:00 pm, Foyer, 2nd level
Book Launches: The "Shakespeare Retold" series by Horia Gârbea and Ciulei and the Ghost of the Father by Anca Hațiegan
5 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Euphorion Studio
HOW MR. GHERASE FELL IN LOVE WITH CLARA SMITH by Cosmin Stănilă | directed by Doru Vatavului
8 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Main Stage
THE KING STAG by Carlo Gozzi | directed by Tudor Lucanu
Sunday, 20 October 2024
11 am, Cluj National Theatre, Foyer, 2nd level
PERFORMANCES IN DIALOGUE, with Oltița Cîntec and the creative teams and cast of How Mr. Gherase Fell in Love with Clara Smith and The King Stag
12:00 pm, Foyer, 2nd level
Book Launch: There. After. 35 years in Theatre.ro Transition, coordinated by Oltița Cîntec
5 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Euphorion Studio
THE SERVANTS OF BEAUTY, original script by Çağlar Yiğitoğulları, inspired by Bhagavad Gita | directed by Çağlar Yiğitoğulları
7 pm, Cluj National Theatre, Main Stage
A MEETING WITH RADU PARASCHIVESCU AND MARINA CONSTANTINESCU
