Craiova National Theatre on Tour in Madrid

Until January 21, actors from the National Theatre "Marin Sorescu" in Craiova are on tour in Madrid, where they have been invited by Teatros del Canal, one of the most prestigious theater institutions in Spain, part of the Prospero-Extended Theatre network. According to the Craiova National Theatre, eight performances of the play "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles, directed by Declan Donnellan, set design by Nick Ormerod, assistant director Laurenţiu Tudor, and original music by Cari Tibor, will be presented to the Madrid audience. "It is important for us that our theater returns to a prestigious international environment. The other guests give the measure of our work, and we are talking about names like Robert Wilson, Pippo Delbono, Eurípides Laskaridis, or Susanne Kennedy," says Vlad Drăgulescu, artistic director of the National Theatre "Marin Sorescu" in Craiova. The cast includes actors Claudiu Mihail, Ramona Drăgulescu, Vlad Udrescu, Tamara Popescu, Angel Rababoc, Iulia Colan, Eugen Titu, Nicolae Vicol, Alex Calangiu, Corina Druc, Bruno Noferi, Anca Maria Ilinca, and Marian Politic. The play "Oedipus Rex" was nominated at the 2023 UNITER Awards Gala in four categories: Best Play, Best Director (Declan Donnellan), Best Leading Actor (Claudiu Mihail), and Best Supporting Actor (Vlad Udrescu). Director Declan Donnellan stated that tragedies are not about heroes, "but about us, ordinary people": "At first, they may seem like an exotic painting, but on closer examination, it becomes a mirror. The process can remind us that if we ever point the finger at anyone else, we will discover that we have three other fingers pointing at ourselves, even if hidden in our palm. Oedipus does just that when he declares that he will find, punish, and humiliate the murderer. But the murderer is himself." This week, representatives of the National Theatre "Marin Sorescu' from Craiova were invited by the Romanian ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain, George Gabriel Bologan, to an event organized on the occasion of Romanian Culture Day, where the Romanian community in the metropolitan area of Madrid had the opportunity to meet the actors from Craiova.