YOUNG BARBARIANS AT THE SIBIU INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL

On 25 June, from 8 pm, Young Barbarians, directed by Attila Vidnyánszky, Jr., will be featured at the 31st Sibiu International Theatre Festival.

The Sibiu International Theatre Festival (FITS), one of the largest and most important theatre festivals in the world, will take place in Sibiu between June 21-30. The festival programme includes 830 events and welcomes over 5,000 artists from 82 countries. The theme of the 31st edition is FRIENDSHIP.

The production has already been performed at several festivals, such as the 10th Theatre Olympics, the XI Madách International Theatre Meeting (MITEM), the 33rd National Theatre Festival in Bucharest and the 14th dráMA Contemporary Theatre Encounter.

These guest performances were followed by a number of positive reviews, including by critics Irina Wolf and Irina Zlotea, both of whom ranked the production first among the productions presented at the 33rd National Theatre Festival:

"First place: (...) Lively rhythm, amazing energy, live music, a good dose of humour and satire, captivating acting and a wealth of memorable directorial solutions! The Hungarian folk music explorations of composers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály are presented through these ingredients. In the role of Béla Bartók, Éva Imre creates a remarkable, almost non-verbal character with nuanced facial expressions and body language." - wrote Irina Wolf about the performance.

"The first production that comes to mind is Young Barbarians by the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj. It remains the most remarkable theatrical work of recent years, which I can't describe as anything other than "witty & sharp", set to a fluid text by Miklós Vecsei H. Vecsei, with impressive, abstract visuals (the set was designed by Csíki Csaba, the costumes by Zsuzsanna Cs. Kiss). Humour, chaos, play, exaggeration, musical variations and poetry are all melded into the expressive power of Imre Éva and the entire creative team (the theatre company and the professional dancers and instrumentalists who round out this microcosm) in a breakneck pace, nearly three-hour performance." - said Irina Zlotea about the production.

Directed by Attila Vidnyánszky Jr., the play is inspired by the lives of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, and is based on a text by Miklós H. Vecsei and improvisations by the creative team, in co-production with the Gyula Castle Theatre.

The two main characters of the performance are portrayed by Éva Imre and Ervin Szűcs, with additional roles being played by Csilla Albert, Balázs Bodolai, Loránd Farkas, Zsolt Gedő, Zsuzsa Tőtszegi and Lóránd Váta; four young folk dancers are also included in the play: Katalin-Bíborka András, Ágnes Lakatos, Nimród-Károly Kacsó and Hunor Vincze-Pistuka.
Éva Imre won the Best Actress in a Leading Role Award for her portrayal of Barbarian B. at the 44th edition of the Guild of Theatre Critics’s Award.
She was nominated was nominated for the 2022 Best Actress in a Leading Role Award by the Romanian Theatre Association (UNITER) for the same role, her performance also being recognized by the Artistic and Social Advisory Board of Gyula Castle Theatre, who awarded her the Lajos Őze Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts for her original and complex rendition of Béla Bartók.
A special feature of the Young Barbarians is the live accompaniment and performance by the Tokos Band: Csongor Attila Tókos, Albert Vajas, Gyula Bálint Szép, Kristóf Szakács, Zsombor Bálint.
The creative team also includes: Csaba Csíki (set designer), Zsuzsanna Cs. Kiss (costume designer), Dávid Mester (musical director), István Berecz (choreographer) as well as Emőke Veres (assistant director).

Tickets for the Sibiu performance of Young Barbarians can be purchased at entertix.ro.