The German State Theatre Timisoara is pleased to invite you to the two performances - "The Cherry Orchard" and "The Dragon" - that will be played during the official closing of the European Capital of Culture in Timisoara on the weekend of 7-10 December 2023.


According to the organisers, Timișoara, European Capital of Culture for 2023, will close its transformative year with a series of events taking place between 7 and 10 December. This multi-faceted celebration aims to encapsulate the richness and impact of the cultural journey undertaken throughout the year. Curated performances, intellectual discourse and sound acts will collectively articulate the fundamental principles that have defined Timișoara's cultural identity: resilience, open-mindedness and a forward-looking spirit. This retrospective is not simply a look back, but an anticipation of how these principles will continue to shape the city's trajectory into the future.



Thus, the first GSST event at the end of the cultural program, called by the organizers "Neverending Timisoara 2023" is "The Cherry Orchard" by Anton Chekhov, directed by Volker Schmidt. It is scheduled for Friday, 8 December 2023, starting at 7.30pm.


The Cherry Orchard is the Russian writer's last great drama, which he wrote before his untimely death and described as a comedy. It is rightly interpreted as a turning point in time: the aristocrats, squandering their fortunes abroad, disappear and enterprising petty bourgeois take their place. But Chekhov wouldn't be the author every director dreams of if he didn't present us with a human comedy. It's a tale of wasted lives, illusions and tangled love stories: Liubov Ranevskaya loves the man who has wrested the last of her money, Varia refuses to be pushed into a marriage with the upstart Lopahin and the eternal student Trofimov loves Ania even though he considers himself superior to love. In the end despair prevails. But the journey continues.



Starring: Ioana Iacob, Alma Diaconu, Oana Vidoni, Bülent Özdil, Marc Illich, Rareș Hontzu, Olga Török, Niko Becker, Aida Olaru, Franz Kattesch, Ida Jarcsek-Gaza, Richard Hladik



Then, on Sunday 10 December 2023, also at 7.30 pm, we have scheduled the anti-war manifesto performance "The Dragon" by Yevgeny Schwarz, directed by Yuri Kordonsky.


A dragon has subjugated a city for centuries. The inhabitants have to feed it thousands of cows, sheep and chickens and sacrifice a maiden to it every year. But the people have come to terms with this, no one rebels against it, on the contrary, they even consider the dragon's rule to be safe. One day a young man, the knight Lancelot, appears and questions this order. He falls in love with the beautiful Elsa, who is to be sacrificed that year, and wants to fight the dragon. But virtually no one sees him as a possible deliverer or would be willing to support him in battle.



In 1943, Russian author Yevgeny Schwarz dressed his criticism of the German Nazi regime in the garb of a fairy tale. But the Communist leaders of the Soviet Union at the time also saw themselves reflected in the play 'The Dragon'. In Moscow in 1944, after two dress rehearsals the performance was banned. The parable remained frighteningly topical in view of Russia's war against Ukraine. For Schwarz not only satirises dictatorships but also shows that arbitrariness and violence endure because people have internalised the mechanisms and values of such a system of government. We all carry the dragon within us.



Staring: Isa Berger, Robert Bogdanov-Schein, Alma Diaconu, Ioana Iacob, Marc Illich, Alexandru Mihăescu, Harald Weisz.




Both performances take place in the hall of the German Theatre, entrance Alba Iulia Street 2.



Tickets can be purchased from the TGST agency or from the Entertix network.

Cherry Orchard: https://www.entertix.ro/bilete/19516/der-kirschgarten-livada-de-visini-the-cherry-orchard-8-decembrie-2023-teatrul-german-de-stat-timisoara.html

Dragon:https://www.entertix.ro/bilete/19517/der-drache-dragonul-the-dragon-10-decembrie-2023-teatrul-german-de-stat-timisoara.html



Let's celebrate the year 2023 at the theatre!