The Sibiu International Theater Festival has come to an end
The Sibiu International Theatre Festival has come to a close.
Bogdan Matei, 18.06.2018, 13:49
The 25th edition of the Sibiu International Theater Festival has just ended. For ten days, around 3.300 artists from 73 countries offered spectators more than 500 performances. The programme was extremely varied and included the most representative productions of leading Romanian theatre companies, important international productions and street and outdoor performances held every day in the city’s squares, in the old town and the mediaeval Saxon fortified churches and fortresses near Sibiu. The festival featured performances from all over the world, from countries like Italy, Japan, Spain, Russia, the UK, India and many others. On the sidelines of the event, exhibitions were opened, some of them European premieres, and also cultural workshops and a book fair.
The Festival’s founder and president, actor Constantin Chiriac, has voiced satisfaction at how this year’s edition unfolded: “ The Sibiu International Theater Festival has ended. Driven by our love for theatre, we’ve been trying, for the past 25 years, to turn an insignificant festival into one of the biggest in the world. You’ve seen how many theatre companies and personalities have come to Sibiu. They have all impressed the audience, as promised. Thank you for sharing with us this great joy. We’re waiting for you to return next year!”
The specialist press says the festival was the engine for Sibiu’s earning the title of European Capital of Culture in 2007, the year when Romania joined the European Union. Thanks to the Sibiu Performing Arts Market created by the Festival, the Radu Stanca National Theatre in Sibiu was present at some of the most important theatre festival in the world, such as Edinburgh, Avignon, Brussels, Seoul, Tokyo, Porto and Frankfurt.
The Sibiu International Theatre Festival is a strategic objective of the Romanian Culture Ministry, which, together with the local administration, provides most of the funding for this event. The festival is also supported by the European Commission, foreign cultural centres and embassies in Romania, international networks and private sponsors, all of whom contribute to the festival’s 13-million dollar budget. This year, the festival has two honorary patrons, the Romanian president and former mayor of Sibiu Klaus Iohannis and Charles, Prince of Wales, whose passion for Transylvania is well-known. The UK is proud of your achievement and of its modest contribution to your impressive journey, Prince Charles said in a message read by Paul Brummell, the British Ambassador to Bucharest.
