The
Lucian Blaga
Lucian Blaga (; 9 May 1895 – 6 May 1961) was a Romanian philosopher, poet, playwright, poetry translator and novelist. He was a commanding personality of the Romanian culture of the interbellum period.
Biography
Blaga was born on 9 May 1895 ...
National Theatre (
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 ...
: Teatrul Național ''Lucian Blaga'') in
Cluj-Napoca
; hu, kincses város)
, official_name=Cluj-Napoca
, native_name=
, image_skyline=
, subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County
, subdivision_name1 = Cluj County
, subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status
, subdivision_name2 ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
is one of the most prestigious theatrical institutions in Romania. The theatre shares the same building with the
Romanian Opera.
Building
The theatre was built between 1904 and 1906 by the famous
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
architects
Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer, who designed several theatres and palaces across Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century, including the theatres in
Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
,
Oradea
Oradea (, , ; german: Großwardein ; hu, Nagyvárad ) is a city in Romania, located in Crișana, a sub-region of Transylvania. The county seat, seat of Bihor County, Oradea is one of the most important economic, social and cultural centers in the ...
,
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
, and
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi ( uk, Чернівці́}, ; ro, Cernăuți, ; see also other names) is a city in the historical region of Bukovina, which is now divided along the borders of Romania and Ukraine, including this city, which is situated on the upp ...
( ro, Cernăuți). The project was financed using only private capital (Sandor Ujfalfy bequeathed his domains and estates from
Szolnok-Doboka County
Szolnok-Doboka was an administrative county (comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now in northern Romania (northern Transylvania). The capital of the county was Dés (now Dej, Romania).
Geography
Szolnok-Doboka county shared ...
to the National Theatre Fund from Kolozsvár).
The theatre opened on 8 September 1906 with
Ferenc Herczeg
Ferenc Herczeg (born ''Franz Herzog'', 22 September 1863 in Versec, Kingdom of Hungary, Austrian Empire – 24 February 1954 in Budapest, Hungary) was a Hungarian playwright and author who promoted conservative nationalist opinion in his coun ...
's ''Bujdosók'' and until 1919, as Cluj was part of the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
, it was home to the local Hungarian National Theatre ( hu, Nemzeti Színház). The last performance of the Hungarian troupe was held on September 30, 1919 and presented Shakespeare's
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
: ''"Horatio, I am dead; / Thou livest; report me and my cause aright / To the unsatisfied."''
Since 1919, when Cluj passed under Romanian administration, the building has been home to the local Romanian National Theatre and Romanian Opera, while the local
Hungarian Theatre and Opera received the theatre building in Emil Isac street, close to the Central Park and the
Someșul Mic River.
After the
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...
of 1940 and the annexation of
Northern Transylvania
Northern Transylvania ( ro, Transilvania de Nord, hu, Észak-Erdély) was the region of the Kingdom of Romania that during World War II, as a consequence of the August 1940 territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, became part of ...
by
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, the building was again the home of the Hungarian Theatre. On 31 October 1944 the Romanian and Hungarian actors celebrating the freedom of the city held a common performance, the revenue being donated to the Russian and Romanian wounded soldiers.
The hall has a capacity of 928 places, being conceived in the
Neo-baroque style, with some inflexions inspired by the
Secessionism
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics lea ...
in the decoration of the foyer.
The building of the National Theatre in Cluj-Napoca is listed in the
National Register of Historic Monuments.
History
![CJROafisTN](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/CJROafisTN.jpg)
The Romanian National Theatre was officially opened on 18 September 1919, simultaneously with the
Romanian Opera and the
Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy
Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy is an educational institution located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The institution was founded in 1919, and currently comprises various departments including composition, conducting, musicology, musical pedagogy, ...
. The inauguration performance, ''Poemul Unirei'' ( en, The Unification Poem) by Zaharia Bârsan, took place on 1 December 1919.
The founder of the National Theatre of Cluj, as well as his first director, was
Zaharia Bârsan
Zaharia Bârsan ( – December 13, 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Romanian playwright, poet and actor.
He was born in Sânpetru, Brassó County, in what was then the Transylvania region of Austria-Hungary. His parents were Zaharie Bâr ...
, actor, stage director, playwright and animator. Some of the famous first members of the National Theatre include Olimpia Bârsan, Stănescu-Papa, Dem Mihăilescu-Brăila, , Jeana Popovici, Stanca Alexandrescu, Ion Tâlvan, and .
Between 1936 and 1940, the directorship of meant a more profound opening towards modernity. In that period, a studio was created, in order to facilitate the contact of the public with the modern dramatic productions. Some famous actors of the time include Magda Tâlvan, Maria Cupcea, Titus Croitoru, Violeta Boitoș, Viorica Iuga, Nicolae Sasu, and Gheorghe Aurelian.
In 1940, as a result of the
Second Vienna Award
The Second Vienna Award, also known as the Vienna Diktat, was the second of two territorial disputes that were arbitrated by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. On 30 August 1940, they assigned the territory of Northern Transylvania, including all ...
, the theatre, like other Romanian institutions, had to move to the Romanian part of the artificially divided
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 ...
. While the
local university
Local colleges and universities (LCUs) are higher educational institutions that are being run by local government units in the Philippines.
A local government unit (LGU) maybe a barangay, a municipality, city, or a province that puts up a post-se ...
moved to
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...
, the national theatre moved to
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
. In December 1945, at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, as Cluj became part of Romania once again, the theatrical institution returned to Cluj and restarted its activity, under the directorship of Aurel Buteanu.
Between 1948 and 1964, although under the initial stages of the
Communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...
, the theatre remarkably managed to keep true to its artistic values. Famous names of the time include , Ștefan Braborescu, Radu Stanca, Viorica Cernucan, Maia Țipan-Kaufmann, Ligia Moga, Gheorghe M. Nuțescu, Emilia Hodiș, Gheorghe Radu, , Alexandru Munte, and .
After 1965, 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 ...
became its director, the theatre focused on aesthetic values, refusing the ideological and moralising line imposed by the increasingly strict Communist authorities. The performances became based on a balanced type of
Modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
. In this period the National Theatre established itself as an important European theatrical institution, due to the prestigious artistic tours in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
with performances such as ''
Iphigeneia in Tauris
''Iphigenia in Tauris'' ( grc, Ἰφιγένεια ἐν Ταύροις, ''Iphigeneia en Taurois'') is a drama by the playwright Euripides, written between 414 BC and 412 BC. It has much in common with another of Euripides's plays, '' Helen'', as ...
'' by
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
, ''
Caligula
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
'' by
Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
, ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'' by
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. Among the young famous artists of the time there were , Valentino Dain,
Melania Ursu
Melania Ursu (July 16, 1940 – January 12, 2016) was a Romanian stage and film actress.
Born in Sibiu, she graduated from the Institute of Theatre and Film Arts (IATC) in 1961. Ursu performed at the Cluj-Napoca National Theatre. From 1977 to 1 ...
, Valeria Seciu,
George Motoi
George Motoi (22 January 1936 – 4 March 2015) was a Romanian actor. He appeared in more than thirty films from 1962 to 2005.
Selected filmography
References
External links
*
1936 births
2015 deaths
Romanian male film actors
...
,
Dorel Vișan
Dorel Vișan (; born 25 June 1937) is a Romanian actor. He has appeared in 65 films since 1974. He was nominated for the award of Best Actor at the 1988 European Film Awards.
He was born in Tăușeni, Cluj County. In 1965 he graduated from the ...
, and Anton Tauf.
The directors that followed, , Maia Țipan-Kaufmann, Petre Bucșa, , and , continued to try (and succeeded quite frequently) to avoid the
Communist censorship by maintaining a balance between national and universal dramatic texts and between classical and modern elements. Famous artists of the time include
Mihai Măniuțiu
Mihai Maniutiu (born 1954) is a Romanian-born theatre director, writer and theatre/performance theoretician. He has directed over eighty productions in important theatres, many of which have been toured internationally, broadcast on European TV ch ...
, Gelu Bogdan Ivașcu, Maria Munteanu, Ileana Negru, Miriam Cuibus, Marius Bodochi, Petre Băcioiu, and Dorin Andone. In this period, performances such as ''Săptămîna luminată'' by
Mihail Săulescu, ''
The Lesson'' by
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...
, and ''
Murder in the Cathedral
''Murder in the Cathedral'' is a verse drama by T. S. Eliot, first performed in 1935, that portrays the assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral during the reign of Henry II in 1170. Eliot drew heavily on the writin ...
'' by
T. S. Eliot were staged during several tours in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
,
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, and
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.
After the
Romanian Revolution
The Romanian Revolution ( ro, Revoluția Română), also known as the Christmas Revolution ( ro, Revoluția de Crăciun), was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred i ...
of 1989, the performances became more diverse and modern. Famous names of this period include , Mihai Măniuțiu, Mona Chirilă, Anca Bradu, Theodor-Cristian Popescu,
Liviu Ciulei
Liviu Ciulei (; 7 July 1923 – 24 October 2011) was a Romanian theater and film director, film writer, actor, architect, educator, costume and set designer. During a career spanning over 50 years, he was described by ''Newsweek'' as "one of the b ...
, Crin Teodorescu, Lucian Giurchescu, Mircea Marosin, , Horea Popescu, Gheorghe Harag, and Dinu Cernescu. The directors of the theatre until 2000 were, successively, Victor Ioan Frunză, , and
Dorel Vișan
Dorel Vișan (; born 25 June 1937) is a Romanian actor. He has appeared in 65 films since 1974. He was nominated for the award of Best Actor at the 1988 European Film Awards.
He was born in Tăușeni, Cluj County. In 1965 he graduated from the ...
.
Since 2011, the director of the Cluj-Napoca National Theatre has been Mihai Măniuțiu. The performances comprise original dramatic works (classic and modern, Romanian and universal). Important stage directors include
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 ...
, Mihai Măniuțiu, , and
Alexandru Dabija
Alexandru Dabija (born February 13, 1955) is a stage director and actor in Romanian theater and film.
Born in Piatra Neamț, he graduated from the I.L. Caragiale Institute of Theatre and Film Arts in Bucharest. Dabija debuted in 1976 with Phili ...
.
[Series editor, András Visky, ''De la Shakespeare la Sarah Kane. Teatrul Național din Cluj. Spectacole din perioda 2000-2007/De Shakespeare à Sarah Kane. Le Théâtre National de Cluj. Spectacles de a période 2000-2007/From Shakespeare to Sarah Kane. The National Theatre of Cluj. Performances from 2000-2007.'' Cluj: Koinónia Publishing, 2008.]
References
External links
Official site
{{Coord, 46.77040, 23.59709, display=title, format=dms, type:landmark_region:RO-CJ
Theatres in Cluj-Napoca
National theatres
Buildings and structures in Cluj-Napoca
Baroque Revival architecture in Romania
Fellner & Helmer buildings
Event venues established in 1906
Culture in Cluj-Napoca
Tourist attractions in Cluj-Napoca
Art Nouveau architecture in Romania
Art Nouveau theatres
1906 establishments in Austria-Hungary
Historic monuments in Cluj County