King Lear

By William Shakespeare

Translator: George Volceanov and Mihnea Gheorghiu

Text adaptation: Mihai Șarnă

Company name: National Theater Eugène Ionesco 

Company country: Republic of Moldova

Director: Mihai Șarna

Distribution:

Petru Vutcarau - King Lear

Doina Arvat – Goneril

Maxim Chiriac – Duke of Albany

Iuliana Vornicescu-Cotrobai – Regan

Petru Dragancea – Duke of Cornwall

Valeria Garțan – Cordelia

Silviu Boinceanu – King of France 

Stanislav Cotrobai – Duke of Burgundy

Laurentiu Vutcarau – Oswald

Gheorghe Petraru – Count of Gloucester 
Alexandru Berbinschi – Edgar
Bogdan Bîtlan – Edmund
Anatoli Guzic – The Jester of King Lear
Iurie Pascar, Marius-Cătălin Tulum, Nicolae Neghin, Stanislav Cotrobai, Silviu Boinceanu, Sergiu Cojocaru, Alexandru Vinocurov, Dorin Bîtcă, Daniel Bostănică, Ion Bivol – Figuration

The creative team:

Head of production: Ludmila Furdui

Costumes: Inga Botnariuc

Music: Alexandru Dicusear[

Hairdresser: Nicolae Ponomarenco 

Special effects: Victor Zburlic

Makeup: Mariana Golovca

Lights: Vadim Eremia

Sound: Cristian Patras

Decoration making: Dionise Cosisceanu

Furniture/Accessories: Artur Furdui

Stage fights: Oleg Mardari

Show synopsis:

The play King Lear is about the lullaby that was not sung in its time…

Once Lear renounces the crown the play begins to tell us about the degradation of the world, but before its disappearance, this world exists with its hierarchy, its beliefs, its rituals, its ceremonies in the relations between power and the king's clan, between legitimate marriages and adultery, between legitimate children and bastards. Two histories go hand in hand – that of Lear and that of Gloucester.

For them, everything around is nothing but the incomprehensible sounds of a vanished world.

All characters become bleeding trunks, branchless, rootless, crippled orphans. Human trunks that refuse to accept the absurdity of the world where life is lived to give life, kill and die. The brother will leave the brother he killed and there will be no other king. 

When Lear loses his mind, he meets the blind Gloucester. These two human trunks already know everything there is to know about themselves and the world. Gloucester hugs and kisses Lear's boots, perhaps as a last reminder of the world that once existed…

Nominations and/or show awards:

"Best Show in the Festival" - "International Black Sea Theater Festival", 5-25 May 2022, Trabzon, Turkey

Company description:

The Eugène Ionesco National Theater (TNEI), founded in 1991 by a group of enthusiastic young actors, led by Petru Vutcarau, all graduates of the B. Shchiukin Higher Theater School in Moscow, has a complex repertoire and includes pieces from classical and modern drama . Exploring new approaches, the performances are produced in a non-traditional, unusual manner, including in the style of the theater of the absurd. In its more than 30-year history, the Theater has participated in numerous European performing arts festivals, including the Avignon Theater Festival (France) and toured around the world (England, Egypt, Estonia, France, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, etc.). The cooperation of more than 30 years with the Japanese Theater Company Hachimaru 1980, which includes co-productions and actor exchanges, is a unique experience in the European cultural space.

Starting with 1994, TNEI organizes the International Biennial Festival of Scenic Arts of

Eugène Ionesco Theater (BITEI), which in its editions hosted theater and performing arts companies from over 15 countries. BITEI received in 2014 the special prize for major cultural achievements of the European Cultural Forum.

Director biography:

Mihai Țărnă, born in 1971, graduated from the Faculty of Acting and obtained a master's degree in theater direction at the Academy of Arts in Chisinau, Moldova. In 2001, he began a film directing journey at the International Film School in Paris, France, where he worked as the Head of the Acting Department until 2022. As a theater director, Mihai Șărnă staged over 45 shows in France, Moldova , Romania, Spain and Ukraine. Shakespeare's plays occupy a special place in his director's portfolio: 2022 - Macbeth, 2021 - King Lear, 2020 - And be silent, 2019 - The Tempest, 2013 - 12 Whispers in the 12th Night. Since 2017, Mihai Țărnă has been the head director of the Nameless Theater in Chisinau, Moldova, which continues to be proof of his passion and dedication to his job. His film directorial portfolio includes: 2018 - "Forgotten or Beyond Us", 2017 - "...ogma", 2016 - "Resilience" (5 official selections and the award for the best short film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival ), 2011/2012 – "Trilogy" (Cannes Film Festival 2012, presented at Cinecittà, Italy).

Show duration: 3h 35 minute (cu pauză)

Special mentions show: For audiences over 16