"A mature and sober man meticulously wipes the lenses of his glasses. Then furiously, ready to crack them, as if he believes that by cleaning them he can see clearly the world, people, the truth, himself. He is nervous, no longer able to control his body, his mind takes precedence over his body, grimaces and tics contort the muscles of his face. The heart muscle certainly remains immobile. Could it be the image of a man (Man?) who has taken up the battle with morality, history, faith, wishing to be above them like a cynical, absurd and cruel Lucifer? To be just a gray, dull, but efficient anonymous in the historical mix, a truthful civil servant without any scruples, consistent in obeying and carrying out the orders of his superiors, his only Gods? It is from these men that history begins to be written, with fine hands soaked in blood, hatred, and conformity. With them at the helm, the world is teetering on an endless, turbulent and stormy sea in which the human drowns, empathy is cauterized, and solidarity is extirpated.

This is the image that I will associate with the show The Trial of Eichmann directed by Mihai Calin, based on the text by Motti Lerner, translated by Denise Idel (Hever Translations), a world premiere at the National Theatre Bucharest, produced within the tnb.edu program".

Alina Mariana Maer, Liternet - Indictment against the Never Trivial Evil - The Eichmann Trial  

"There is a very quick succession of states that the spectator goes through, although the scenes themselves do not have the same speed, on the contrary. Each exchange of lines comes with at least two changes of position, so that the kaleidoscopic effect sets in relatively quickly. This is also one of the reasons why no one feels the need to leave the room, the need to understand comes first. The witnesses' testimonies are like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle: seemingly unrelated, they in fact complete a picture that is as grotesque as it is humiliating for human nature.

This is not Richard Bovnoczki's first negative role, but I think this is the one he's done best. He identifies himself 100% with the character, he takes him on and dresses him in the most appropriate, human clothes.

(...)Criminal minds have given rise to serious studies in criminology, and one of the reasons criminal behavior has become the stuff of academic study is so that the horrors are not replicated. That's why The Eichmann Trial should be seen by as many people as possible.

The cast, which includes the director himself, emphasizes each character individually, and the relationships between them and between them and the subject - the Holocaust - are self-evident.

A performance built on the borderline between emotion and an effort to understand, a balance achieved with the help of documentary footage, projected in such a way as to link the moments of the performance, but also to bring a broader perspective on the subject. In the end, the viewer realizes that Eichmann was not the only one guilty of implementing the Final Solution...

A performance directed by Mihai Calin, as necessary as it is well staged. If one of the meanings of art derives directly from people's need to express themselves, well, The Eichmann Trial is the performance that gives an extra meaning, that brings into question the ethical dimension, not only the aesthetic one of the performance".

Nona Rapotan, BookHub - A historic trial that should never have happened   

"After his successful performance in Hedda Gabler, directed by Thomas Ostermeier, Mr. Richard Bovnoczki offers an impressive portrait of Adolf Eichmann, seemingly human, an imperturbable, cultured and elegant German. A Nazi and member of the SS, in 1938 he was appointed head of the Department for the Jewish problem, directing the extermination of Jews in Europe. Richard Bovnoczki brings to the stage a cold-blooded, intelligent and astute character, intensely self-interested and intensely self-interested, and creates a remarkable portrait of such a man.

(...) The Eichmann Trial is a well-crafted performance set in the warlike context of the moment, full of truth, contemporary themes and (even alarming!) reflections, standing up to the artistic heights of our first scene".

Dinu Grigorescu, Rinocerul Magazine – World premiere at the NTB: The Eichmann Trial by Motti Lerner   

"The Eichmann Trial" is not a performance to be greeted with a shrug, especially in the current Middle East context. Israeli playwright Motti Lerner's play, staged in its world premiere by Mihai Calin at NTB, was the first play I attended - and I've been going to the theater constantly for over 40 years - after which the actors did not step into the limelight during the applause at the end. Without getting a chance to check, I can only assume why this happened at the second premiere performance: perhaps Mihai Calin, the first-time director of this project, didn't want to take any extra credit for his deliberately old-fashioned staging of an unapologetically oppressive political play. And what could Richard Bovnoczki do - get cocky in front of the audience for playing Adolf Eichmann so brilliantly! Or the whole cast - applauding him for not turning down Mihai Calin, as someone had invoking the situation in Gaza when he was offered a role?

(...)In Mihai Calin's directorial interpretation, as well as in the actor's reading of his role, "The Eichmann Trial" is not only a moral statement, but also an assurance that there are people in this world whose just judgment cannot be influenced. "The Eichmann Trial" makes a resounding case that we do not have the right to remain silent when the government commits an injustice, even in the name of a higher purpose. And that to oppose the interests of the moment of one's homeland is, in itself, patriotic. (...) the news that even in the most terrible times, conscience cannot be defeated seems to me to give great hope".

Horia Ghibutiu, A journalist's blog - The Trial of Hope from The Eichmann Trial, world premiere at NTB   

"Deeply convinced of the cathartic power of the theater performance, one of Israel's most famous playwrights, Motti Lerner brings historical-political themes to the forefront. The play "The Eichmann Trial", staged for the first time in Bucharest, becomes a true moral statement.

(...) Creativity and originality are needed to deal with a highly charged social issue (such as human rights, racism, anti-Semitism), especially in a city in the midst of an election campaign (especially since the nationalist smack is in full view in the center of the capital). The recent staging (world premiere) demonstrates these qualities and also infuses the story with a lot of emotion, but also with intellectual substance.

(...)The stage director relies on his well-chosen actors: Richard Bovnoczki as Adolf Eichmann - his artistic maturity has allowed him such a complex approach aimed at interpreting the fatality of History. The actor develops a solid bond with his scene partner Diana Dumbrava, full of pathos. The palms of the two spouses meet (as if in a leitmotif) in a sort of "Sieg Heil!", separated by the glass window of the defendant's cage. In relation to the lawyers and prosecutors, Eichmann / Bovnoczki also retains an aura of arrogance, being a middle-class "inglorious bastard".

(...)This staging could, indirectly, answer a simple but legitimate question: "How could such horrors be born in a civilized world?". The educational character of the staging also becomes an activist one: a commitment not to forget and to prevent the horrors of the past from being repeated".

Madalina Dumitrache, Bel Esprit - Time for questions, time for conscience - The Eichmann Trial

"What Mihai Calin does with this staging is to bring us, as an audience, into the courtroom, where we listen to the horrors described by the witnesses, live, and thus witness the trial of the defendant. The casting of Richard Bovnoczki in the lead role was extremely appropriate, especially as the role suits him perfectly. Through the way he articulates his words, his gestures and his reactions in the box, we see a character who has no qualms of conscience and who tries to appear as blameless and innocent as possible. Interesting are the moments when the defendant talks to his wife, Vera Eichmann (Diana Dumbrava), moments in which one senses a certain desperation, especially after she begins to learn in detail the horrors in which her husband participated. However, no feelings come to the surface on his part, everything is cold, even as he tries to appear innocent to his family. Sometimes truths, even if not verbalized, are felt, and here the dynamic between the two is clearly built on a relationship of fear and dread.

Gideon Hausner (Mihai Calin / Alex Moustache) used the trial to shed light on the atrocities of the Holocaust, not only to condemn Eichmann, but also to expose the general public, including those who did not live through the horrors of the Nazi regime. He brought before the court Holocaust survivor witnesses who told their stories in a dramatic and moving way. These testimonies gave harrowing details of the horrors experienced by Jews during the Holocaust. Witnesses played a key role in the performance and the interpretations and the stories they told were chilling. Even though most of us have read books on the subject or seen movies or documentaries, the theater has a much stronger impact and the stories are viscerally felt in a painful way."

Andrei Bulboacă, Fictiunea - The Eichmann Trial or the painful slap of history   

Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu