The production "The Tempest" staged by Alexander Morfov at the I. L. Caragiale National Theatre of Romania, Bucharest (2014), had its premiere in China. It was selected for the programme of the International Theatre Festival organised by the National Theatre of People's Art in Beijing. Since 2011 the theatre's been hosting the festival which has become a landmark event for theatre art from around the world for local audience presenting shows from USA, Europe, Russia, Taiwan, Macao. 

     Companies from Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Romania and France were invited to participate in this year's 8th edition while Morfov's "The Tempest" marked the grand opening of the festival with three shows on 22nd, 23rd and 24th June. 

     Presenting a Shakespearean play to the Chinese audience was a huge challenge as the roots of Asian theatre date back to Shakespeare's age answered by the renowned playwright Tang Xianzu (1550 - 1616) of the Ming Dynasty. Though familiar to the readers, Alexander Morfov's production was the first staging of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" to ever take place in China. 

     A comedy of illusion, a romance - a text about power and revenge, this play is beyond any interpretation. It outreaches the laws, known to men, it presents a fairy tale about controlling the elements and allying with nature, mastering the spirits and bringing love and forgiveness. Morfov's immersive staging is full of lively rhythm, humour, emotions, and music that echoes in your mind long after leaving the theatre hall. TNB's "The Tempest" is a spectacular image of the live-giving magnitude of art and imagination. 

     In Morfov's version the love story of Miranda (Crina Semciuc) and Ferdinand (Ciprian Nicula) has a contemporary sounding. Comedy, dance, poetry, ambiance, fantasy, fireworks and boldness are employed by the director for building a bridge between different cultural traditions and between classical and modern theatre. 

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Theatre is a living being, its nature is to evolve.

It keeps calling for new ideas, demanding new forms.

This production is borne from our shared

imagination - director's and actors'.

 

~ Ion Caramitru

actor in the leading role of Prospero, and

manager of the I. L. Caragiale Theatre

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     Subtitles in Chinese, translated by Shang Xiaolei and Pang Jiyang, were screened throughout the performances which helped the viewers understand and appreciate the production in its dramaturgical integrity. The shows ended with expected long applause and deserved curtain calls. "On stage, we always keep the emotion as it is an organic element of our job but every time we present a production abroad to an audience which does not speak the language there is a gap of understanding. There is also the fear of not being understood when you perform for an audience with different civilizational traditions. Of course, translation helps, but this production also has its own universal language." - admits Caramitru. 

     The tour was with the financial support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing. "This exceptional production has a significant international success. Its director Alexander Morfov combines traditional approach with modern sense of humor and emotions. The Beijing audience was impressed and watched the show in silence and fascination for more than three hours." - they commented. The Beijing premiere of "The Tempest" was attended by representatives of both Bulgarian and Romanian diplomatic missions, as well as by the director Constantin Lupeanu.