The Cluj-Napoca National Theatre is happy to announce that the 15th edition of the International Meetings in Cluj will take place from 16 to 18 October 2026, presenting, under the theme CONTRASTS, its most recent productions on both the main stage and in its studio venue.
The programme includes original creations, bold dramatizations of Romanian literary works, and new adaptations of celebrated international dramatic texts.
Thus, the productions Shadow on Paper by Dragoș Pop and The Symphony of Freedom by Sânziana Tarța create two contrasting feminine worlds, yet linked by a distinctive lyricism that explores the hidden corners of loneliness — one through the art of verbal language, the other through the art of choreography and music.
With the dramatization of Lavinia Braniște’s recent novel Sonia Raises Her Hand, directed by Răzvan Mureșan, and Mihaela Panainte’s adaptation of Eugene O’Neill’s play Long Day’s Journey Into Night, the transformation of autobiographical reality into artistic fiction faces winding paths that bring to the surface the contrasts between generations and mentalities, whether we’re talking about American society at the turn of the 20th century or Romanian society at the turn of the 21st century.
Contrasts are also revealed in the way we relate today to canonical texts such as Ion Creangă’s Harap-Alb (White-Moor), which, under Ionuț Caras’s ultra-contemporary parodic-political lens, becomes A Different Kind of White-Moor, or a play like John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger, in a staging which shatters the social framework of the 1950s to give voice to the cry against domestic abuse in our own present time. Another kind of wake-up call is George Tabori’s anti-Nazi farce Mein Kampf, staged by Alexandru Dabija as a ”dance macabre” which highlights the contrasts between the comic and the tragic, derision and gravity, hilarious eccentricity and regimented monstrosity.
The performances will be accompanied by discussions with the artistic teams, addressing the necessary contrasts brought into focus by the National Theatre stage in Cluj, and sparked by the turmoil of today’s society. These will be complemented by a critical look at the National Theatre’s repertoire history – shaped by the major socio-political upheavals of the 20th century – through the exhibition open in the foyer all throughout the festival, as well as by debates on the new challenges posed by a green, responsible theatre, in line with European cultural policies.
Through the performances and events it presents, the International Meetings in Cluj festival aims to continue a much-needed artistic dialogue, inviting its spectators to engage each time in profound experiences that continually raise new questions and encourage the search for meaningful answers.
Cover photo: 'A DIFFERENT KIND OF WHITE-MOOR' © Nicu Cherciu