Craiova International Shakespeare Festival in the European context
Craiova International Shakespeare Festival in the European context

Summary/Abstract: The Craiova International Shakespeare Festival was founded in Craiova, Romania, in 1994, and it was initiated by Emil Boroghina, who was, back then, the managing director of the National Theatre of Craiova. In the beginning, the first five festival editions were organized every three years, and, since 2006, the festival has taken place every two years, and some of the performances invited to Craiova have started to be also taken to Bucharest, the capital of Romania. Thus, the festival has kept growing from one edition to another. Since the first festival edition, in 1994, when, among the Shakespearian performances presented then, there was only one foreign company invited to Craiova, numerous prestigious theatres have brought their productions to Romania. Nevertheless, the first foreign Shakespearian performance presented within the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival was the famous Cheek by Jowl Company who performed their ”As You Like It” staged by the reputed director Declan Donnellan, and used an all-male cast as was done in Shakespeare’s day. The careful selection of some of the best and most renowned world productions is one of the main characteristics of the Festival in Craiova. Performances directed by Peter Brook, Lev Dodin, Robert Wilson, Declan Donnellan, Silviu Purcarete, Elizabeth LeCompte, Eimuntas Nekrosius, Yoshihiro Kurita, Thomas Ostermeier, and many others have represented the highlights of this festival. Besides the presentation of Shakespearian performances, the festival organizes also theatre workshops, book launches, exhibitions of photography, set and costume design etc, as well as two international conferences on Shakespeare, including theatre critics’ and professionals’ contributions, on the one hand, and academics’ articles, on the other hand. In 2008, the Festival’s motto was “Great Directors, Great Performances, Great Theatres of Europe and of the World”, and presented performances staged by some of the most famous international directors. The 2010 Festival was dedicated entirely to performances of “Hamlet” in different directorial visions and interpretations by Thomas Ostermeier, Oskaras Korsunovas, Monica Pecikiewics, Yoshihiro Kurita, Yun Taek-Lee, Elizabeth LeCompte, Eimuntas Nekrosius etc. The 2012 Craiova International Shakespeare Festival’s motto was “The world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players”. The 2014 and 2016 festivals’ mottos are to be “Everyone’s Shakespeare” and “Shakespeare For Ever”. In 2010, the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival and the Shakespeare Festivals in Gdansk (Poland), Gyula (Hungary) and Neuss (Germany), as well as the Big Bill Festival in England founded the European Shakespeare Festivals Network which, at present, includes also the Shakespeare Festivals in Ostrava (the Czech Republic), Catalonia (Spain) and Yerevan (Armenia), while other Shakespeare festivals, from all over the world, prepare to join this network.

• Details
• Contents