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Botond Nagy is staging, at the TNB, "Prophet Ilya" - an unbelievable story about the apocalypse
Starting February 14, 2025, you are invited to the Studio Hall to see The Prophet Elijah (Prophet Ilya) by Tadeusz Słobodzianek, the play chosen by director Botond Nagy for his second staging at the I.L. Caragiale National Theatre in Bucharest, after "The Word Progress on My Mother's Lips Doesn't Ring True" by Matei Visniec.
The works of Tadeusz Słobodzianek (director, playwright, theater director) are among the most original in contemporary Polish drama and have been awarded prestigious Polish literary prizes. Among his best-known creations is the stage tript consisting of the dramas: “Tsar Nicholas” (1985), “The Prophet Ilya” (1992), and “Death of a Prophet” (2011).
“The Prophet Ilya” is based on information published by Włodzimierz Pawluczuk, a sociologist and religious scholar, who described the phenomenon of the Prophet Ilya in his 1974 study centered on the figure of Eliasz Klimowicz, an eccentric man who lived in the northeastern Polish region of Białystok in the 30s and 40s. A reportage about the end of the world; the story of a group of people who broke away from the Greek Orthodox Church and tried to build their own world in a small godforsaken village.
Klimowicz, who owned only one book - the Bible - and all he knew about the world was information he heard by word of mouth, proclaimed himself the biblical prophet Ilya. He built an Orthodox church in a settlement called Wierszalin, where he founded a New Jerusalem and soon gathered a group of devoted followers. After some time, Ilya announced that the end of the world was near. His faithful followers awaited the apocalypse, but as their wait seemed to be in vain, they decided to help by hastening the course of history. They resorted to the familiar crucifixion scenario and nailed the prophet to the cross just like Jesus. So Ilya's story also becomes the story of a group of people who wanted to change the world by trying to make their dreams come true.
Playwright Słobodzianek explains: 'I was interested in this story because, like a crystal ball, it mirrors all the utopias we have lived through during the 20th century: Christianity, communism and nationalism, the mixing of different cultures, nations, languages and religions. We seem to have entered the 21st century with this burden, and there is no indication that we will be able to escape it - on the contrary, it seems to be getting more and more overwhelming. The Prophet Ilya is a play that explores the problems of racial hatred and bigotry, nightmares that continue to haunt us despite some fair denunciations.
For Botond Nagy "The Prophet Elijah" is "a provocative and cheeky text", "an unbelievable story in XIV scenes" (the author's subtitle), with 14 characters, a tough story, which the director dresses in an image focused on light. "Everything is very comic and at the same time very painful". With this new production, Botond Nagy invites us to a deep and sincere meditation on faith and religion. If the God of Słobodzianek's drama died with Nietzsche's statement, yet He exists in the love and humanity in which the young director continues to believe.
Not recommended for people under 18 - for known reasons (licentious language and scenes with sexual connotations), Tadeusz Słobododzianek's play in the stage reading signed by one of the most exciting directors of the young generation in Romania comes at a time of deep spiritual and moral crisis facing contemporary societies.
Richard Bovnoczki, Aylin Cadir, Florentina Tilea, Silviu Mircescu, Emilian Marnea, Razvan Oprea, Ofelia Popii, Florin Calbajos, Lari Giorgescu, Vitalie Bichir, Mihai Calota - well-known names of the TNB stage, who were joined by the very young Leonard Chionac, Oana Laura Gabriela, Teo Dinca.
Irina Moscu - Scenography, Diana Nechit - Dramaturg, Claudiu Urse - Original Music and Sound design, Cristian Niculescu - Lighting design and Video design, all had a significant contribution to create the world and atmosphere of the performance.
The first performances will take place on February 14, 15, 16 (official premiere) and March 20, 2025, at 19.00 and on March 22 at 12.00.
Tickets are available at the TNB box office and online at tnb.ro.
Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
