The State Hungarian Theatre of Cluj ( hu, Kolozsvári Állami Magyar Színház; ro, Teatrul Maghiar de Stat din Cluj) is a theatre in
Cluj-Napoca,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
. Performances are played in
Hungarian, with simultaneous translation into
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
or
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
usually available.
The structure, built during 1909-1910 and reconstructed in 1959-1961, can seat 862 people in the main auditorium.
The building, which also houses the
Cluj-Napoca Hungarian Opera
The Cluj-Napoca Hungarian Opera ( hu, Kolozsvári Állami Magyar Opera; ro, Opera Maghiară din Cluj) is an opera company in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, a ...
, is listed in the
National Register of Historic Monuments.
History
The Hungarian Theatre of Cluj was founded in 1792 and was the first Hungarian theatre company in
Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
, now a part of modern-day Romania. The Hungarian Theatre of Cluj functions as a repertory theatre, entirely subsidized by the
Romanian Ministry of Culture.
The defining periods of the theatre were shaped by directors of international fame who are considered key figures of Hungarian and European theatre, including Gyula E. Kovács, the initiator of the Shakespeare-series,
Jenő Janovics
Jenő Janovics (8 December 1872 – 16 November 1945) was a Hungarian film director, screenwriter and actor of the silent era. He directed 33 films between 1913 and 1920. He also wrote for 30 films between 1913 and 1918. He was the found ...
, founder of the first Hungarian film studio, and György Harag, a great Maestro of the theatre in Romania.
In 1990
Gábor Tompa Gábor Tompa (born 8 August 1957 in Târgu Mureș) is an internationally renowned Hungarian theater and film director, poet, essayist and teacher. Between 2007 and 2016 he was the Head of Directing at the Theatre and Dance Department of the Univers ...
was appointed artistic director of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj. Under his leadership, the theatre has continued Harag's tradition of innovation, based on a repertoire that includes classic masterpieces as well as contemporary plays. During the last 18 years the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj has aligof contemporary theatre and taken its place in the circuit of European theatres. This has been largely due to international co-productions and collaborations with world-renowned professionals: directors such as
Vlad Mugur Vlad Mugur (born 22 June 1927, Bucharest, Romania; died 22 July 2001, Munich, Germany) was a Romanian-born German theater director.
He graduated from the Bucharest Theater Institute (directing class) as valedictorian in 1949, but he had already sta ...
, Silviu Purcărete,
Andrei Șerban
Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian- American theater director. A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of Theater at th ...
,
Mihai Măniuţiu, Victor Ioan Frunză, Mathias Langhoff, David Zinder, Dragoş Galgoţiu, Patrick Le Mauff, Elie Malka, Dominique Serrand, Michal Docekal and
Robert Woodruff; set and costume designers such as Andrei Both, Csaba Antal, Doina Levintza, Lia Manţoc, Martin Chocholousek, Dragos Buhagiar, and Helmut Stürmer; and composers such as Vasile Şirli and Iosif Herţea.
Productions of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj have received significant national and international recognition. In 1993,
Eugène Ionesco's ''
The Bald Prima Donna'', directed by
Gábor Tompa Gábor Tompa (born 8 August 1957 in Târgu Mureș) is an internationally renowned Hungarian theater and film director, poet, essayist and teacher. Between 2007 and 2016 he was the Head of Directing at the Theatre and Dance Department of the Univers ...
, won the Best Foreign Performance of the Year Award when it toured England; it also went to Finland, France, the Republic of Moldova and Hungary. In 2007, Tompa's production of
András Visky's ''Long Friday'' was presented at the 16th Festival of the
Union of the Theatres of Europe
The Union of European Theatres (UTE; french: Union des Théâtres de l'Europe) is an alliance of European public theatres. It serves to promote European integration through cultural interaction.
It does intensive transnational theatre work compr ...
in Turin. And in 2008,
UNITER, the Union of Romanian Theatres, gave three awards to the Hungarian Theatre's production of
Anton Chekhov's ''
Uncle Vanya
''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dir ...
'', directed by Andrei Şerban. András Hatházi received the Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role, and Andrei Şerban the Award for Best Director of the Year, while the production as a whole won the award for Best Performance of the Year. This was the fifth time the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj had won the
UNITER Award for Best Performance of the Year. Previously, ''
Bus Stop'' in 1990, ''
The Venetian Twins'' in 1998, ''
The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...
'' in 1999, and ''
Woyzeck
''Woyzeck'' () is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. Büchner wrote the play between July and October 1836, yet left it incomplete at his death in February 1837. The play first appeared in 1877 in a heavily edited version by Karl Emil Fr ...
'' in 2005, were all distinguished by this honor. Then in 2009 "
Three Sisters" became the sixth performance to win the Best Performance Award and Gábor Tompa became for the fourth time the Best Director of the
Year. "
Victor or power to the Children" and Silviu Purcarete repeated the "double" in 2014.
In 2007, on the 215th anniversary of its existence, the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj successfully hosted the 1st INTERFERENCES International Theatre Festival, with 12 productions from 7 countries.
The following April, the theatre was accepted as a full member of the
Union of the Theatres of Europe
The Union of European Theatres (UTE; french: Union des Théâtres de l'Europe) is an alliance of European public theatres. It serves to promote European integration through cultural interaction.
It does intensive transnational theatre work compr ...
and in the fall of 2008 the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, together with the
Bulandra Theatre of Bucharest, organized the 17th Festival of the Union of the Theatres of Europe.
17th Festival of the Union of the Theatres of Europe
official website (English version available)
References
External links
Hungarian Theatre of Cluj official website
*
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1792 establishments in Europe
18th-century establishments in Romania
Buildings and structures in Cluj-Napoca
Culture in Cluj-Napoca
Hungarians in Romania
Theatres in Cluj-Napoca
Tourist attractions in Cluj-Napoca