Two of the productions of the National Theatre of Craiova produced last season were selected for the National Theatre Festival. This year's edition of the festival, the XXXII, will take place from 5 to 13 November 2022 and will take place, as always, in Bucharest. The shows that will be presented by the National Theatre of Craiova are dog with man. dog without man, regia Radu Afrim și OEDIP REGE, regia Declan Donnellan.
dog with man. dog without man is a production "that amplifies all your feelings from the depths, which you rarely bring to light." Alina Epîngeac, critic of theater.
dog with man. dog without a manis the fourth show that Radu Afrim stages at the National Craiovean, after If we thought out loud by Adnan Lugonić, Meerkat House by David Drábek and the award-winning production Heart and other meat dishes by Dan Coman, winner of the UNITER Award for the best show of 2020.
For the roles performed in the caine cu om show. dog without a man, Tamara Popescu and Vlad Udrescu were nominated for the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor Awards, respectively, at the 2022 edition of the UNITER Awards.
Through its ideational and aesthetic quality, the show dog with man, dog without man deserves every effort of travel from the spectators. If not to find out, at least to start wondering who I really am.
At the National Theater in Craiova, Radu Afrim turns a dog into a man. dog without mana show that showcases the strength of a band that I dare say has coagulated over the last few years. There are moments that troubled me. Which left me speechless at the thought of Afrim as a director, as a writer, as an artist who brings to the fore impeccable actors like Vlad Udrescu, Alex Calangiu, Claudiu Mihail, a new register for Romanita Ionescu, a recital by George Albert Costea, a new positioning of Tamara Popescu and Iulia Lazăr.
I saw this performance for almost four hours with a full hall, as much as the restrictions allow, in which no one seemed to breathe, a fantastic fluid held the actors and the audience in a trance, and it seems to me that the meaning of the theater is this "together". Afrim's actors are seduced by his proposal and give themselves to him without any reservations, until the end.
Marina Constantinescu, literary Romania
A show with/about dogs? What's this? These dogs are, in fact, a pretext for playing stories about us. About me. About the animal in me that has long since been killed, buried, forgotten but deeply regretted. It's about man seen through the eyes of a dog. About the animal-man. About man-animal competition. And the animal, of course, wins because it is honest. These dog stories, I think, reveal our limitations. It's nothing new. Indeed, "it's smoked," some would say. But these stories are so rich and brilliantly written that the emotional impact is imminent.
Vlad Udrescu, actor
dog with man. dog without manis a show based on texts by Lia Bugnar, Dan Coman, Simona Goșu, Maria Manolescu, Oana Pellea, Radu Tudoran and Radu Afrim. The direction, video and sound universe are signed by Radu Afrim, scenography by Irina Moscu, choreography by Flavia Giurgiu and the cast includes the actors Alex Calangiu, George Albert Costea, Ramona Drăgulescu, Romanita Ionescu, Iulia Lazăr, Geni Maxsim, Alina Mangra, Claudiu Mihail, Cătălin Mihai Miculeasa, Raluca Păun, Tamara Popescu, Vlad Udrescu, Costinela Ungureanu, Petronela Zurba, Adrian Tudor, Mihai Viță.
The show "Dog and Man. Dog without man" staged by Radu Afrim at the Marin Sorescu National Theatre in Craiova is not only an opportunity to put together touching stories with and about dogs. It is a successful attempt to send Man in the skin of his best friend, the Dog, in order to better understand the true value of the most important themes that cross all of us during our short life on this earth, which we should not overshadow for nothing.
Luciana Antofi, cultural journalist
Radu Afrim's performance challenges us to look deeper into ourselves than we are usually willing to do. We probably tend to think we are better, more merciful, more fair, more human than we are, and that's why we prefer to keep the animal in us hidden, tightly chained. We keep it so well locked up that we forget about it. And then we are no longer vigilant, and the non-human, the inhuman escapes and wreaks havoc. And we are astonished, precisely because we thought that if we stopped thinking about these gaps in the desired inner perfection they would cease to exist. But this painful mirror that Afrim holds up to our subconscious is not meant as a criticism, not as an accusing finger pointed at our imperfections. The aim is not to bow our heads in shame, but to be more aware, more realistic about the limits, the goodness and generosity we believe we are capable of.
Silvia Dumitrache, Cultural Observatory
OEDIP REGE is the first show that Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod, founders of the famous company Cheek by Jowl, staged in Romania.
We have been coming to Craiova for many years, we opened the Shakespeare Festival with the show As You Like It in 1994, and I have been to Romania many times, I have many stories to tell. I knew the people here and it seemed to me that the next logical step was to come and work with them, it's one of the best things I've done, I felt amazing.
Declan Donnellan, interview for Cultural Observatory
The cast of the touring show OEDIP REGE is made up of the actors of the Craiova National: Claudiu Mihail, Ramona Drăgulescu, Vlad Udrescu, Tamara Popescu, Alex Calangiu, Nicolae Vicol, Iulia Colan, Angel Rababoc, Raluca Păun, Ovidiu Cârstea, Eugen Titu, Corina Druc, and Bruno Noferi, Ioana Andone, Irina Danciu, Adelina Galiceanu, Roxana Mutu, Mihai Alexandru Purcaru, Petri Ștefănescu, Cătălina Vînătoru, Iarina Zidaru, Ioana Vicol, Romana Vicol.
Declan Donnellan gave me the trust of a good friend, setting off together on this long and perilous journey of Oedipus. I invite you to see the show because my words for now are few and poor.
Claudiu Mihail, actor, interpreter of the role of Oedipus
Declan Donnellan doesn't ask you to do anything in particular on stage, he doesn't specifically ask "go from A to Z", he tells stories, stories, and at the end of them you know exactly what he wants from you, or if not, he tells you another story. I went to a different school during this time.
Ramona Drăgulescu, actress, interpreter of the role of Jocasta
What is truly spectacular in this Oedipus is the clarity with which Declan Donnellan extracts from Sophocles' text a profoundly contemporary (for eternally and universally human) essence: haughtiness the attempt to defeat the conditions of reality by ignoring them. Lack of humility and lack of acceptance - understood not as resignation, but as the obstinacy of an absurd sense of superiority - which, in our times, does not upset the gods, but destroys society.
Iulia Popovici
Performance dates will be announced later both on the festival website - www.fnt.ro and and on the website of the "Marin Sorescu" National Theater in Craiova - www.tncms.ro.
a performance on texts by Lia Bugnar, Dan Coman, Simona Goșu, Maria Manolescu, Oana Pellea, Radu Tudoran and Radu Afrim
Director, video and sound universe: Radu Afrim
Scenography: Irina Moscu
Choreography: Flavia Giurgiu
Video effects & animation: Cristian Niculescu
Assistant director: Claudia Gorun
Assistant set designer: Gloria Bucătaru
Make-up: Minela Popa, Mihaela Guran
Design lumini: Dodu Ispas
video people and dogs: Orlando Edward
With: Alex Calangiu, George Albert Costea, Ramona Drăgulescu, Romanița Ionescu, Iulia Lazăr, Geni Macsim, Alina Mangra, Claudiu Mihail, Cătălin Mihai Miculeasa, Raluca Păun, Tamara Popescu, Vlad Udrescu, Costinela Ungureanu, Petronela Zurba, Adrian Tudor, Mihai Viță
Duration of the show
Part I - 1h 50 min
Break: 20 min
Part II: 2h
by Sofocle
Translation: Theodor Georgescu, Constantin Georgescu
Directed by Declan Donnellan
Set design: Nick Ormerod
Music: Cári Tibor
Assistant director: Laurențiu Tudor
Set design assistance: Adelina Galiceanu, Petri Ștefănescu
with: Claudiu Mihail, Ramona Drăgulescu, Vlad Udrescu, Tamara Popescu, Alex Calangiu, Nicolae Vicol, Iulia Colan, Angel Rababoc, Raluca Păun, Ovidiu Cârstea, Eugen Titu, Corina Druc, Bruno Noferi, Ioana Andone, Irina Danciu, Adelina Galiceanu, Roxana Mutu, Mihai Alexandru Purcaru, Petri Ștefănescu, Cătălina Vînătoru, Iarina Zidaru, Ioana Vicol, Romana Vicol
Itinerant show, recommended for people over 16 years old
Duration: 1h 20 min
„MARIN SORESCU” NATIONAL THEATER CRAIOVA
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The "Marin Sorescu" National Theater in Craiova is one of the most important theaters in the country, with a tradition of over 170 years and a prestigious international activity whose long and rich history culminated with the legendary performances of Silviu Purcărete, presented in the most important theater festivals around the world, but also with the immense international success of the Shakespeare Festival, which brings to Romania performances from five continents, every two years.
Now, with a contemporary vision, the theatre addresses present and future perspectives, addressing an increasingly broad spectrum of audiences in line with current challenges.