Prometheus '22

Based on the tragedy of Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, the performance is a co- production of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, the State Theatre of Constanţa and SNT Drama Ljubljana. The production, which is part of the European Theatre Union’s Catastrophe project, will premiere in Hungarian, Romanian, Slovenian, and English on July 1, 2022 in the Main Hall of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj, followed by premieres in Ljubljana in October, and in Constanţa in January 2023. PROMETHEUS '22 will return to Cluj-Napoca in November for the Interferences International Theatre Festival, but will also be shown in Porto in February 2023 at the Finisterra Festival, organised by the São João National Theatre and European Theatre Union. The production will feature Igor Samobor, Domen Novak, Vanja Plut, Eva Jesenovec (SNT Drama Ljubljana), Cătălina Mihai, Florin Aioane, Ecaterina Lupu, Mirela Pană, Dana Dumitrescu (State Theatre of Constanţa), Gábor Viola, Áron Dimény, Tamás Kiss, Anikó Pethő, Eszter Román, Zsolt Bogdán, Melinda Kántor (Hungarian Theatre of Cluj). Alongside the director Gábor Tompa, the creative team consists of Erwin Șimșensohn (director's assistant), Carmencita Brojboiu (set and costume designer), Vasile Șirli (composer), Ágnes Kali (dramaturg), Ferenc Sinkó (choreographer) and Radu Daniel (video artist).

Photo credits Biró István

Prometheus '22 wants to be a meditation of the condition of the intellectual in the 21st century. In the digitalized and powerfully manipulated news network and social media truth became over-relativized and even fact-checks can end up being considered as fake news. In an extremely ideologized and divided world, where dialogue became almost impossible and debates are reduced to extreme reactions, hate speech became a daily routine, often fueled by governments which support extreme political ideas. In these conditions the role of the intellectuals – scientists, doctors, artists – becomes more difficult but also more responsible, that of observing the world with an objective eye and share their knowledge to the people even with the risk of being persecuted in the same way as Prometheus has been in the mythological time. The performance tries to approach to the myth of Prometheus from a more ironic perspective exploring its significance in the context of our contemporary world. (Gábor Tompa)