site.btaTwo Romanian Directors Featured at the Varna Summer International Theatre Festival

Gábor Tompa directs As You Like It with the Varna Drama Theatre — a modern Shakespearean staging that explores contemporary political and emotional themes through the lens of love and theatre.

In an interview with BTA, Tompa shared that Shakespeare didn’t write As You Like It for a specific historical period, which is why the action in his version is not set in the playwright’s time. Instead, he seeks to find what the text says to the contemporary audience — even suggesting a metaphorical comparison between Duke Frederick’s court and the European Parliament. Tompa focuses on themes such as loyalty, forgiveness, and misanthropy, but most of all — the transformative power of theatre and love, which can offer an escape from a corrupt society that suppresses the human spirit.

Silviu Purcărete presents The Ploughman and Death with the National Theatre of Iași — a visually rich, award-winning adaptation of a medieval text, blending poetry, allegory, and multimedia performance.

Both productions highlight the strong presence of Romanian theatre in the international festival circuit and the creative bridges being built across the region.