Final round of applause for TESZT#13

The 13th edition of the TESZT Festival, organised by the Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre, has finished after eight intensive days of good quality theatre. 25 performances from 12 countries were presented in various venues inside the Cultural Palace and open-air spaces. the festival welcomed over 3000 spectators from Romania and abroad, professionals from the theatre world as well as ticket-buyers who crave theatre after the pandemic break.

Remarkable performances from Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia Hercegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, France and Romania regarded relevant themes in diverse artistic forms, strongly connected to today's spectator - whether it is identity, alienation, the war and its traumas, illness, destiny, old age, social systems, perseverence of man in historical storms, all under the central theme of this year's festival - restoring the relationship between theatre-audience/performer-spectator, the theatre as an engine for community restoration. The Italian open-air performance "Moby Dick" gathered hundreads of spectators in Opera Square, while "no title yet” – a marathon-performance lasting 11 hours – could be described as a theatre festival itself. Six shows offered free access for the public. Another unique event was the presentation offered by Ukrainian Youth Theatre Virymo from Dnipro - "Classmates”, as a symbol of solidarity and friendship with artists affected by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. A distinct segment wast the Extension dedicated to independent theatre. Festival evenings ended with consistent moderated discussions in the theatre foyer.

One obvious conclusion following TESZT sold-out events is the urgent need for larger event venues in Timisoara. Hosting high-level artistic events in performing arts is currently complicated because there are not enough adequately equipped venues which could host  hundreds of spectators.

The Csiky Gergely Hungarian State Theatre wishes to thank its sponsors and partners who made this edition possible: Timișoara City Hall, the Department for Social Assistance, the Proteszt Association, the Arte Factum Cultural Association, the Bastion-Várbástya Association, the National Art Museum in Timișoara, the Mihai Eminescu National Theatre in Timisoara, the Romanian National Opera in Timisoara, Timis County Direction for Culture, Timis County Center for Arts and Culture, Timisoara European Capital of Culture 2023, Teatroskop, the Paris French Institute, Fornetti.

The 14th TESZT will be organised in May 22nd-28th 2023.