Silviu Purcărete, arguably Romania’s most-famous theatrical director, will direct the iconic Hungarian national drama The Tragedy of Man at the Csiky Gergely Theatre in Temesvár/Timișoara, the theater announced on Wednesday.
“Besides the famous theatrical director, the production will also be joined by well-known theatrical creators: stage designer Dragoș Buhagiar, composer Vasile Șirli and dramaturgist András Visky,” the theatre said in a statement.
The Tragedy of Man (Hungarian: Az ember tragédiája) is a play written by Hungarian author Imre Madách. First published in 1861, it is considered to be one of the major works of Hungarian literature and is one of the most-frequently staged Hungarian plays today. Many lines from the piece have become common quotations in Hungary.
The production consists of 16 scenes showing Adam, Eve, God and Lucifer from the beginning of creation through major historic moments of humanity to the distant future.
Silviu Purcărete (69) is perhaps the most-acclaimed Romanian theatrical director internationally, with his plays having been featured at international festivals in Avignon, Edinburgh, Tokyo, Melbourne, Montreal, Glasgow, Bath, Varna, Gdánsk and Sarajevo.
He is also one of only five individual members (i.e., not theaters) of the Union of European Theaters (UTE).
Title image: Performance of Silviu Purcărete’s award-winning Faust in Szeben/Sibiu in 2007.
