class="">Gertrude

“In Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and mother of Hamlet, bearer of the ultimate guilt, becomes the evil mind behind this script of adultery, lies, crime and power. Who is the King’s true killer? Do they deserve punishment or forgiveness? Did the Father kill the father? ‒ these are all questions seeking for answers in a series of actions where underlying motives blend together with suspense, thriller-like sequences. The author doesn’t eliminate the Shakespearean debate, portraying the young Hamlet ‒ with all his anguish ‒ tirelessly seeking the truth and, finally, embracing death as a freeing gesture, disgusted by all.”.

This new premiere, that honors the National Theatre Bucharest as well as the National Theatre Festival 2023, marks the come-back of Silviu Purcărete to Bucharest. The last time he had directed a production for a theatre in the Capital was eleven years ago, at the National Theatre – “Master Leonidas Faces the Reactionary Movement” by I.L. Caragiale, featuring Victor Rebengiuc and Mariana Mihuț as protagonists.

In an interview for Rock FM, the remarkable stage director Silviu Purcărete was confessing that, for years, he had hesitated to come work in Bucharest: “Also, I hesitated to direct for the National Theatre of Bucharest for years. In the end, I gave in to Pino Caramitru’s pleas. This production (…) I am doing because I promised it to him.”

In regard to Radu F. Alexandru’s playwriting, in the postface of the “Theatre 7” volume, Silviu Purcărete says: “From the start, it is suggested that there is no solution, no salvation possible so that everything could end with the fireworks of failure’s cynical triumph. Speaking more to the mind than to the heart, Radu F. Alexandru’s plays can paradoxically delight you precisely because there is a sarcastic jubilation following every situation, every line of it.”